Brothers & Sisters
by poeticgrace
Summary: For the children of Laura Spencer, life has taken some unexpected tumbles and turns. How will they get through it together and who will be by their sides in the end? LuSam, DiLu and N&N among others.
1. Chapter 1

When his mother had called to tell him that Lulu Spencer was missing, it had taken Dillon Quartermaine exactly ten minutes to pack a suitcase and grab his cell phone before he was on his way to the airport in Toronto. Although he was far from surprised, worry had consumed him immediately. Lulu's latest emails were full of dark tales about Johnny Zacharra, complete with the gaping holes that indicated how she felt about the mobster's only son. Whenever she started to fall for anyone, Lulu found a way to look past all the warning signs to the truest part of them – their heart. Her mother, Laura, had been very much the same with Luke, and Dillon knew more than anyone how closely the young blonde had followed in her mother's footsteps. If she was missing, danger couldn't be too far behind, and the last thing he wanted to do right now was say goodbye to yet another woman he loved.

The last two months had been hell on him. Not only had he lost his ex-wife, he had lost the only Quartermaine who had ever accepted him so freely. The night that Emily died, he knew that the heart and soul of his family had left with her. They had lost more people than they could bear in the past few years – Lila, A.J., Justus, Alan and now Emily. Edward's days seemed to be numbered sometimes, and every day brought new dangers to Jason's life. It was inevitable that they would lose another of their own at some point. It wasn't a danger that he would have equated to his former love, the late Georgie Jones. Honest, loyal and kind-hearted, he still couldn't believe that she was gone most days. He would see an old movie on television and think about calling her before realizing that she would never pick up the phone again. Being in Port Charles without either of them had been too hard and as soon as Luke had become stable after the surgery, Dillon had found himself on the next plane out of town.

Just before he had left, he had fought with Lulu. She saw it as yet another male trying to tell her what to do with her life, but for Dillon, it had been about protecting the fragility that was her heart. At this point, she was just going through the motions with Logan, pretending to care about him when she really wanted to be with Johnny. He knew the ruse better than anyone as he himself had perfected it with Georgie during those last months of their relationship. He had feigned love for his ex-wife when the only person he really wanted to be with was his blonde best friend. Most days, that was still the only thing he wanted. However, time and circumstances seemed to make that increasingly impossible, and the only thing he could still do for her was try to protect her in the best way that he knew.

"_Lu, you're not your mother, and we're not talking about Luke Spencer," Dillon shouted angrily as he paced the length of the boathouse. Lulu recoiled at his harsh tone, surprised that he would make such a bold statement considering that they had exchanged little more than emails since he had left to make his movie. "Johnny Zacharra is the type of man that will get you killed. You can pretend that you love Logan all you want to, but I see how you look when you talk about Johnny. It's the same sparkle you used to get when you talked about me."_

_Lulu had bolted from her seat just inside the door, rushing across the room until she was standing toe-to-toe with Dillon. "Don't pretend to know how I feel, Dillon," she spat. "You didn't know how I felt then, and you certainly don't know how I feel now. Johnny is just my friend, and I'm with Logan. Why don't you just go back to Toronto and worry about your own damn life? I'm doing just fine without you here."_

"_You're doing a lot of things, Lu, but one of them isn't fine," he retorted softly, daring himself to rest his hand on her bare shoulder. Lulu didn't react for a moment before sinking involuntarily into his touch. It lasted just a second, but Dillon felt the shift. _

_She recoiled away from him, turning around so that she didn't have to meet his gaze. "You have a plane to catch," she informed him coldly. "Why don't you go back to the only thing you've ever really loved and just leave me the hell alone?"_

Looking back now, Dillon knew that he should have stayed and fought for her. However, he had been a coward and stomped out of the boathouse (their boathouse) sheepishly. Since then, they had exchanged only a few emails and even those had been fairly abbreviated. Each message only brought news that she was growing closer to the man that they both knew would never been right for her, never be enough for her. For the past two years, Lulu had only been trying to fill the vast abyss left by their child. Dillon was responsible for that emptiness, a void that had driven her out of his life and into the arms of someone that could end up getting her killed. If anything happened to Lulu, Dillon would never be able to forgive himself. He didn't know how to save her yet, but he knew how to start.

There was only one man he could trust to help bring Lulu home, and that was his cousin. Jason Morgan hadn't really had much use for Dillon, the youngest Quartermaine of his own generation, but he respected him for standing up to the family. Dillon had always stepped up for the things that he wanted, whether it was a life in the film industry or a marriage to Georgie. Dillon hated that he had to go to his cousin for help, but he knew that Jason would find a way to get her back. Not only was she Spinelli's friend and Carly's cousin, it was clear that he had his own affections for the blonde who had once lived with him. Picking up his cell phone as he jetted out of the taxi, he dialed the number and prayed that the mobster would pick up on the other end.

* * *

After Tracy had dialed her youngest son in Toronto, her next phone call had been to Lulu's own brother, Lucky. She hated that she had taken so long to notice that her stepdaughter was missing, but she had been so wrapped up in Luke's recovery that she hadn't been around the mansion all that much. When Alice informed her that her bed hadn't been slept in for days, she had just assumed that she was staying with that loser, Logan. However, it took only conversation with the Baldwin offspring before she figured out that something wasn't right with the situation. Once Dillon had assured her that he had no idea of her location, she had called Lucky. He hadn't given her much time before slamming the receiver down. There was a mystery to be solved about his little sister's whereabouts, and Detective Spencer was on the case. 

He had been at sitting alone on the docks when the call had come, contemplating just exactly where his life was going now that everything else seemed to be falling apart. A year ago, he thought he knew exactly what he was doing. Elizabeth was slowly learning to forgive him, and in just a few short weeks, they would be married again. It was before the hostage crisis at the Metro Court, before his life fell apart again without his knowledge. At the time, Lucky had believed that Liz was pregnant with his son, the perfect addition to their family with Cameron and his one true reason for staying sober. It would be months before the truth would come out and his perfect little world would be shattered beyond repair. It would only coming tumbling out after a night of danger once again, this time at Wyndamere. He hated that night more than any other in the entire course of his life. Not only did he lose his child but he also lost his best friend. How much could one man lose before he broke? If it hadn't been for his bond with Cameron and undeniable connection to Jake, he would have downed an entire bottle of pills when he saw Emily's lifeless body on the cold tile floor.

Sam had been the one to try to get him through the days (and the nights) during those next few weeks, and slowly, Lucky had started to believe in the relationship he had built with the petite brunette. He knew that there were bold, glaring warning signs telling him that he needed to be cautious of her motives, but like a true Spencer, he dove head first without thinking about the repercussions. Now, he understood that their entire relationship had been built on a web of lies carefully constructed by Sam. He wanted to hate her for the things that she had done, but he couldn't. Given the chance, he wasn't sure that he wouldn't have pulled similar stunts. He would have done anything to keep Elizabeth and the boys safe, even if it meant scaring her away from a life with Jason. Although he never would have hired men to threaten Elizabeth and her sons, he was equally desperate to hold onto the life he still thought of as his own. Sam had just wanted to exact revenge on the woman who had taken hers. However, it was the fact that she had watched another woman steal Jake that he had deemed unforgivable.

Sitting alone on the docks, he could still feel the same angry adrenaline pumping through his veins that had been present when Elizabeth had finally told him the truth about the company he had chosen to keep. He hadn't wanted to believe her, but the look in her eyes promised him that every single word was true. She had only told him when he had revealed his plan to move in with Sam. Elizabeth was determined to keep her away from Cameron and Jake, and now that Lucky knew the facts, he couldn't blame her. He had agreed to stay in the house and immediately ended things with Sam. It didn't matter how he had started to feel about her because his first priority was, and had to be, the boys. He had promised to be their father, and no woman was worth messing that up. Maybe they could have been something good if things had been different, but life was what it was. Anger has a way of pushing people past limits they never knew they had, and for Sam, it had proved to be too tempting. As much as he cared about her, he couldn't be with someone so far over the edge that she would risk a child's life. Even so, it still hurt like hell.

Lucky pulled his phone from the inside of hooded leather jacket and thought about calling his older brother but stopped short of actually dialing the numbers. Nikolas was still going through so much in the aftermath of Emily's death, and with the tumor, he was apprehensive of bringing too much stress into the prince's life. They still weren't sure what triggered his violent episodes, and the last thing Lucky needed was to have to worry about who his brother would go after this time. Instead, his fingertips slid over the keypad to connect to the only other person in the world who cared about the same people that he did almost just as much. It only took a few seconds before the familiar voice filled his ear, immediately bringing him some much-needed solace. "Elizabeth, can we meet? I need to talk."

* * *

When Nikolas Cassadine had pictured his last days on earth, he had always imagined that he would be old. He hadn't thought that he would be haunted by the ghost of his fiancée, clinging desperately to an image his mind had concocted to help him get through the pain and the grief. He didn't think that he would be separated from his only son, the miracle child that his other fiancée had left behind when she had inexplicably died two years before. He hadn't considered the thought of dying alone in a sterile room at General Hospital, waiting for doctors to figure out what was wrong with his mind at the young, ripe age of twenty-eight. He hadn't wanted to believe that his life could be over before it ever really got the chance to begin. However, cruel and unrelenting, life hadn't asked him what he wanted. It had simply left him alone with the hand he had been dealt.

His grandmother, Lesley, had brought Spencer by a visit, a rarity these days as Nikolas preferred to stay as far from his son as possible if only for the toddler's own safety. He never knew when the next episode would come along, and Nikolas didn't want his son to know a moment of fear at his hands. It was also still hard to be in the same room as Spencer because it brought a million memories with Emily all flooding back at one time. Walks in the park, snowmen built at Wyndamere, Saturday mornings in bed – their entire life had revolved around Emily until she was suddenly gone. Nikolas still wasn't sure if had killed Emily, but the one thing he knew for certain was that if he didn't have this tumor, she would still be alive.

Her visits had become more frequent in the weeks since his diagnosis, constantly there to reassure him that when he lost this battle, she would be on the other side waiting with open arms. He didn't have to worry about his son as he knew that Lesley, Bobbie, Lucky and Lulu would make sure that Spencer was so unbelievably loved. He was sad that he would miss out on his child's life, but there was nothing he could do to change that. His death was inevitable, unpreventable and uncontrollable. Given the chance, Nikolas wanted to believe that he would choose to live for his son, but honestly, he couldn't imagine a life without Emily. Before Spencer, she had been his reason for living. After Courtney had died, she had been the one to convince him to fight for his son. So many things had been made possible with her love, and now that she wasn't here, he knew that no one could love him enough to make him well again.

Nikolas padded across the room with a sleeping Spencer in his arms, headed for the rocking chair in the corner of his private quite at General Hospital. Patrick Drake had arranged for him to stay here for his own good so that they could continue to test and monitor him. Robin had promised him that this was his best hope for getting better, but it was Emily who had convinced him to admit himself into the neurology unit. Other than the pair of doctors, he had few visitors. Patrick had wanted to get some since of routine and normalcy for him, so Nikolas had the same two nurses assigned to him. An older woman, Lois, checked in on him during the day. It was the other nurse, the young blonde Nadine, that he looked forward to seeing. Most of the time, she seemed to have a soothing effect on him. She had seen him at his worst but didn't seem afraid of him. The only other person who had been like that was Emily. Nadine also knew that he still spoke to Emily and had even encouraged it if it meant he could make it through. With her, he didn't have to pretend, and in some small way, he knew that Emily was responsible for that. Even in death, she was still taking care of him and finding inexplicable ways to give him exactly what he needed to find his way home again.

_Author's Note: One question. Lucky – Sam or Elizabeth? _


	2. Chapter 2

Samantha McCall sat quietly in a canvas director's chair, taking in the chaos that ensued around her. She could hear the new producer barking orders at the set designer, meticulously explaining the color palette she had detailed in their production meeting earlier that morning. Just as she had that morning, Sam tuned out the conversation in favor of the comforting silence floating around inside her head. She rarely paid attention to anything at the studio these days other than her lines and even that was only because she was contractually obligated to complete another season of _Everyday Heroes._ When the cameras weren't actually on her, Sam spent nearly every waking moment thinking about and regretting what she had done to Lucky.

It had all started out as a malicious plan to get back at Jason and Elizabeth. Sam had never even entertained the possibility that she could care about the police detective, let alone actually fall in love with him. However, in the aftermath of her breakup with Jason, Lucky had been the solace that she so desperately needed. He had been the one person to sympathize with her, the one who could understand how she was feeling at any given moment. When she had set up Elizabeth, she had destroyed any real chance she had with Lucky. She had never meant for anyone to get hurt, but her intentions didn't really seem to matter. She just wanted revenge on the wholesome nurse who had stolen her life. Instead, she ended up losing everything all over again.

She could still remember the night in Nikolas' barn when Lucky found out that Jake was really Jason's son. The heartbreak and disbelief in his beautiful eyes had broken her heart in an instance. She regretted keeping the secret for so long. When he found out that she had been on the lie, the situation only worsened. That anger didn't even begin to compare to how he had reacted when she had finally revealed the truth about her other antics. Between the kidnapping and the faux attack in Rice Park, it had all just been too much for any one man to handle.

Sam had expected him to yell at her, but she wasn't prepared for the eerily calm silence that came after her confession. He had stood their stoically poised in front of her, gazing into her eyes as if she was a stranger. She had tried to go to him and apologize, anxious to hold onto the connection she knew was slipping away. He had recoiled immediately, moving away so that she couldn't touch him. It was as if he was afraid her fingertips would burn him. In a way, she already had. She had put the boys he loved as his own children in danger, and from where Lucky stood, that sin was unforgivable.

"_We've all done things here that we regret, Lucky," she reminded him, knowing that her attempt was pathetic at best. "You set up Jason last summer out of jealousy. That's all this was. I just wanted to get back at Elizabeth. I didn't even think about Jake and Cam. I wanted her to hurt as much as I did."_

_Lucky stared at her, his eyes cold and distant. "That's the difference between you and me, Sam," he replied calmly. "You wanted revenge. You were thinking about yourself. Every choice that Elizabeth, Jason and I have made has been about those children. I may not have much good to say about either of them, but at least they have thought about Cameron and Jake first. They never even entered your mind."_

"_Only in that moment," she argued. "Since we started spending time together, you know that I have thought about those kids. I have wanted to make this situation easier for them. I didn't want to get in the way or confuse them. I know that what I did was wrong. I know that I hurt them. But I'm different now. You changed my life. Don't you see that? You have to forgive me, Lucky. You have to forgive me."_

"_No, I don't have to forgive you," he countered, shaking his head firmly. He cringed inwardly at the wild tears streaming down Sam's beautiful face. Even in his angry state, his first instinct was to lean forward and wipe them away. Still, he forced himself to stand still and let the tears come. She deserved to feel this pain after what she had done to the children. "I won't forgive you. I can't, Sam, I just can't."_

Sam was snapped back to reality when the designer's assistant stomped by, muttering angrily about the new changes. Reaching up, she began to absently finger her necklace without realizing what she was doing. It had been a gift from Lucky for the New Year. The pendant was a butterfly, the symbol for a new beginning. He had told her that they were going to start 2008 off from scratch together. Yet, Sam had never felt more alone.

* * *

The fifth floor nurses' station was buzzing with activity on the unusually busy Tuesday morning. A mid-winter blizzard had rolled into Port Charles last night, leaving a fresh blanket of white snow on the city sidewalks and driveways. They had already had three sledding accidents, two falls and a half dozen pulled muscles from shoveling. Epiphany Johnson was directing incoming patients to various rooms while the other nurses worked busily to fulfill her orders. In the midst of it all, an even-headed Nadine Crowell was helping calm down a rambunctious seven-year-old who had cut his ankle ice skating at Rice Park. Once his ankle had been securely wrapped in gauze, she gave the boy's mother directions on care and excused herself for a temporary reprieve in the lounge. 

Alone in the dark room, Nadine finally allowed herself a moment to breathe. She was in the twelfth hour of a double shift, running on pure adrenaline and bad hospital coffee. After a three-hour stint in the emergency room, Patrick Drake had asked her to come upstairs to neurology to assist on a surgery. Before then, she had a half-hour to check on her patients. Once she had calmed her frazzled nerves enough to function properly, she headed for the eighth floor and back to work.

The eighth floor wasn't much different from the chaos on the fifth floor. Tuesday was a heavy surgery day for the neurology staff, and Patrick and Noah Drake were two of the best surgeons on the Eastern Seaboard. Patients traveled from all over the coat to have a procedure from the expert doctors, and each time she got the chance to assist, Nadine knew that she was seeing the very best of the best at work. She had been especially proud when Patrick had asked her to help on Nikolas Cassadine's case. He was an important figure to the people of Port Charles and a key benefactor of General Hospital. Having the doctors at GH trust her enough to look after Nikolas meant that she truly had a chance of outliving her sister's reputation horrific actions.

In the short time that she had been working with Nikolas, she had come to learn a few important things about the infamous Russian prince. In addition to his unconditional devotion to the very kind and now-deceased Emily Quartermaine, he seemed to love his son very much. Nadine admired the strong connections Nikolas had built, reminding her very much of her own past. Nadine rarely spoke of her days before Port Charles to anyone, but it didn't mean that she had forgotten where she had come from. The memories were never too far from the front of her mind, and the more time she spent with Nikolas, the harder it was becoming to forget them.

"Good afternoon, Nikolas," she chirped as she rushed into the room, clipboard on her hip. Nikolas smiled up at her warmly from his hospital bed. She could tell that she had caught him in mid-conversation with Emily but chose not to comment on it. He knew that she knew, and that was enough for now. If he felt like talking about it, he would come to her. She had been through her own grief and knew the process well. Nikolas couldn't be rushed, but she trusted that he would come to her when he was ready. "How are you feeling today? Any changes that I should know about?"

"Afraid not," he answered. Running his fingers absently through his coal black hair, she could read the frustration in his chiseled features. "Lesley brought Spencer to visit this morning. I got to spend some time with him. It was nice to see him, even if it was here in the hospital. I miss being with him every day. I guess we're not much of a family anymore."

Nadine thought about her own family for a moment. Her father had died, her sister was comatose and her mother had virtually disappeared off the face of the earth. She was all alone with only her memories to keep her warm at night. "Families change. Things happen. That doesn't mean that you can give up on life. You still have your son, and for his sake, you need to give him everything. Hold onto that. It's more than a lot of people have."

Nikolas studied her closely for a moment, remembering Emily's earlier words. _She does know – just look at her._ He used to be such an observant person and he couldn't understand how he hadn't seen her sadness before. "I know, you're right," he conceded softly, mustering a smile for her benefit. "Look, I'm sure you have a lot to do, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I haven't been spending enough time with Spencer. Could you look in on him for me and see if my grandmother will bring him back for evening visiting hours?"

"Of course," she retorted with a wide smile. She had learned in nursing school that she shouldn't get too close to a patient, but with Nikolas Cassadine, convention just didn't seem to apply. There was something about the case, about him, that drew her in. She knew that she could make a difference here, even if it was just to help him get through his grief. If he wanted to see his child, Nadine would find a way to make it happen. When she had originally come to Port Charles, she thought that it was to see her sister, Jolene. Now, she was beginning to see that she had come here not only to save Nikolas, she came here to save herself.

* * *

In her brief twenty years on the planet, Lesley Lu Spencer had only ever truly loved one guy, and that had been a disaster. Now, she was split between two men that seemed to love her, and she couldn't find it in her heart to give all of herself to either of them back. Since the abortion nearly two summers ago, Lulu had worked hard to get over Dillon Quartermaine. The struggling director had been her first love and the only guy who had ever managed to make her feel vulnerable. She wasn't sure if she would ever get over that.

With Logan Hayes, she had tried to convince herself that it could be easy. She had a new beginning where that year of her life didn't have to matter. He was her way out from the guilt, from being known simply as "Luke Spencer's daughter" or "that girl who got the abortion." He didn't care who she had been before him, only the woman that she was with him. There was no judgment behind his motives, but there had been deception. She had been part of a bet, a deal that ended with her being betrayed and him losing the girl that he had learned to love. Still, she had managed a way to forgive him because she didn't really love him. She didn't care enough about Logan to have her heart broken by him. The only man capable of such an act was gone, and for the time being, she planned on using the former soldier to clean up the broken parts.

Her plan had been working until Johnny Zacharra showed up, once again shaking her seemingly perfect world to its very core. He was dark and exciting, the antithesis of Dillon in every way. Completely undependable and forever walking dangerously close to the edge, Johnny made Lulu feel alive in a way that many would compare to her mother's infatuation with her father. However, unlike the great Luke and Laura love story, Lulu didn't want to have a life with Johnny. She just wanted to use him to feel numb. The danger excited her and kissing him brought that familiar rush of adrenaline to her veins. It was only a temporary escape from reality, but it gave her the luxury of hiding from the truth. Whatever it cost to her relationship to Logan, Lulu thought it was worth it, or so it had been until she was kidnapped outside Kelly's that cold night.

Now, nearly a week later, she was still locked in the dank confines of the stone room. From her few visitors, she had gathered that she was in a monastery. Her captors hadn't driven her long, so she knew that she wasn't too far from Port Charles. Other than that, she really had no idea what was going on. No one had told her who was holding her hostage or why. The only thing she knew for sure was that it had something to do with Johnny. She had lost all sense of time by now. Her only activities besides sleeping and eating were thinking about the past. One by one, she had retraced each and every moment of her life. With all its twists and turns, ups and downs, her mind always came back to him. It always came back to Dillon.

Before he had left Port Charles, Dillon had told her that he would stay for her. Lulu wanted to be selfish and ask him to stay, but she was afraid that she could never be worth him giving up his dream for her. He wanted to make movies, and this was his chance. She loved him too much to deny him that awesome opportunity. It had the power to change his life. Dillon had already changed hers. He deserved this.

Slumping against the cold wall, Lulu drew her knees up to her chin. She wrapped her arms around her body and began to rock slowly, recounting the conversation they had shortly after her father's surgery. They were both so angry and stressed out, coming off the grief of Georgie's funeral and Luke's near death episode. She had been so hateful and distant, wanting to push him away. "I'm sorry, Dil," she whispered to herself, rocking gently as the tears began to fall. It was hard to remember that day. She knew that if he saw how weak she really was, how much she needed him, there was no way Dillon would leave Port Charles. There was no way he would have left her.


	3. Chapter 3

True to her word, Nadine returned just after sunset with Nikolas' son in her arms. Lesley had dropped him off, explaining that she had planned to visit her daughter that evening. She made arrangements to pick up Spencer at eight o'clock in time to get him in bed for the night. Under ordinary circumstances, she would have never left her great-grandson with a virtual stranger, but Nikolas seemed to trust her. After everything he had been through in the past few months, he needed as many people in his corner as possible.

Walking down the hall with the toddler on her hip, Nadine finally understood why anyone would want to be a parent. She had always liked kids but had long felt disconnected from that maternal instinct that women always talked about. Passing by the slightly confused nurses and doctors, she tried to imagine what it would be like to be Spencer's mother. The little boy had already lost his biological mother and the woman that would have likely adopted him. He had lost so much without ever knowing what he had or realizing that it had happened. She could relate to that kind of loss, and her heart went out to the little boy he would be in a few years, asking all the questions that only his father could answer.

Slipping into the neurology ward, she signed herself in as a visitor and attached a plastic badge to the strap of Spencer's denim overalls. He seemed content with her, giggling as she tickled his sides playfully. When they arrived to Nikolas' room, he was still asleep from his afternoon. Unsure of what to do but not wanting to leave in case she woke up, Nadine settled her and Spencer in an armchair in the corner. He settled into her lap and looked at the bright pages of the book she was trying to read to him. He listened for awhile before becoming bored. Instead, he began turning the pages himself, pointing and laughing at the different circus animals.

"He likes you," Nikolas called from across the room. Nadine looked up over the edge of the book and smiled uncomfortably. She wasn't sure how he would react to seeing another woman with his son. "Spencer is usually pretty good with people, but he's quiet. I haven't seen him like this for a long time. Not since…"

Nadine could finish the sentence for him but decided not to. "Lesley wanted me to apologize that she couldn't stay. She told me to tell you that she was going to go visit your mom and would be back to get Spencer by eight," she informed him. "I hope you don't mind that she left him with me. I could kind of tell that she was reluctant."

He shook his head insistently as he sat up. "Of course not," he assured her. "Lesley knows that I trust you enough to watch Spencer. I wouldn't have had you call her if I didn't."

She watched him swing his tanned legs over the edge of the hospital bed and pad barefoot across the cold tile floor. He knelt in front of her without any reservation, not even thinking about how he would look like. Nadine knew that he was always polite and usually followed a strict set of matters protocol, but around his son, he became another person. She poised Spencer on the edge of her knees and bounced him lightly while Nikolas swung the boy's feet back and forth. Spencer giggled in response, throwing his dark head back in utter joy. "I think someone is happy," she laughed along with him. Nikolas didn't reply as his gaze fixed on the little boy. Nadine leaned down to help transition him into his father's arms.

"Thanks," he retorted as he stood up. Spencer reached up and threw his tiny arms around his father's neck. Nikolas bent his head in response and laid a gentle kiss on the crown of his head. "All day when I am here, I miss this. Every minute I'm away from Spencer, he is the only thing I can think about. Emily and I talk about him a lot. She keeps reminding me that I'm going through all of this for him. It reminds me a lot of what you said earlier. In fact, you two have been telling me many of the same things."

Not sure how to respond to that, Nadine uncrossed and crossed her legs. "I'm only telling you the things that I would want to hear if the situation was reversed," she replied. "I know how to help you get through the grief part. I've loved and lost the person who cared most about me in the world. But this tumor, I don't have any clue how you should deal with it. I just know that you have to, and this little boy should make you want to."

Nodding slowly, Nikolas looked down at Spencer and made a funny face to elicit another of his trademark giggles. He knew that Nadine was right. He wanted to be there to see all those things that his mother had missed with him and later with Lulu. He didn't want to leave his son alone in the world to be an orphan. He knew what it was like not to have parents. If there was any way, he would not do that to his son. As he looked over Spencer's shoulder, his eyes caught Nadine's. "He's not the only thing that makes me want to live."

* * *

It was night in the dark, cold confines of her room, and Lulu was growing more and more restless by the moment. She had tried to nap earlier but woke up twenty minutes in after a tumultuous dream about Dillon. Since then, he was the only thing she could think about. She had thought about him a lot since he left, especially in here, but nothing had ever been this insistent. It was like she couldn't think of anything else. She had thought that dinner might help, but as she stared down at the plate of pizza, it only reminded her of him even more. They'd eaten it together in the lounge at the hospital, one of the few Quartermaine traditions that she could get behind. 

Standing up, she decided to take a walk around the room to stretch her legs. It's not like she had that far to go, but at least she was doing something. She paused at the door to see if the guard outside was talking but all she heard was silent. Making a circle around the room, she tried to count how many steps it took to make a complete lap. With each one, she would stop at the door. Finally, on the eighth round, she could hear a soft one-sided conversation coming from the hallway. Pressing her ear against the door, she tried to make out what he was saying.

"Morgan knows that she's missing?" the guard asked. "Who is this kid that's started looking for? I know that it's not that weird computer nerd that Corinthos has working for him or that brooding guy that follows her around all the time. I just talked to the boss, and he says that the two of them are working with Zacharra. They're so far off the path that they'll never find her here. I'm not sure why Morgan is working independently."

Lulu thought for a moment, trying to figure out who could be working with Jason. It sounded like Logan and Spinelli were working with Johnny, so it couldn't be the three of them. She decided that it was probably Milo. He was the most likely candidate to assist Jason in the search for her. They had barely spoken in months, but he would still care that she was missing. Spinelli had probably told Jason before venturing off with Logan. Knowing Jason, he feared that the so-called Jackal would only cause more trouble.

"Quartermaine?" she heard the guard say. "You mean that right family that lives in the white mansion on the hill? I didn't know she was connected to them. I guess that would explain why the kid is looking for. Blondie's stock value just went up."

_Dillon._ There was no way that Dillon was the one that was helping Jason, but it was the only way the conversation would make sense. There were no other young males in that family unless he thought of Ned as being young. It had to be Dillon. Tears sprung to her eyes immediately as she began to shake again. Before that moment, she had begun to accept that no one would ever find her. However, she knew immediately that Dillon was going to come through. He had gone to Jason for help and together, they would find a way to bring her home. For the first time in too many days, she had hope.

"I'm here, Dillon," she whispered. "Oh, God, I know that you can hear me. Dillon, you have to find me. I need you right now more than I have ever needed you. You're the only one who can do this. Just follow your heart. It will lead you back to me. It's always led me back to you."

* * *

Sitting alone at a corner table at Kelly's, Lucky reached down to turn off his cell phone while he waited for Elizabeth. He was restless from too many hours of thinking, his brain completely fried from everything that was weighing him down. He raised his hand to signal Mike for another cup of coffee before heading over to the jukebox to play his favorite song. As he settled back in his favorite seat, Elizabeth came bustling into the diner with a red down parka over her lavender scrubs. 

"Sorry I'm so late," she apologized, sitting down in the chair across from him. "We had a woman in labor come right as I was getting ready to leave, and I had to help walk the new nurse through admittance. Then, there was traffic on Clover. It's just been one of those days."

"No problem," he retorted. Mike had brought another cup of coffee to Lucky as well as a spiced hot tea for Elizabeth. They had been ordering the same thing for years, both while she was a waitress at the family's diner and in the years since. "I know you're probably surprised that I asked you here to talk considering everything we've been through, but I don't really know who else to talk to. Usually, I would go to Nikolas with this kind of thing, but he's a little busy. I tried Lulu, but no one has seen her for a few days. Since Logan's gone, I figure they must have headed out of town for a little breather. Things have been hectic for everyone since Christmas."

Elizabeth nodded. "I know that things are still strained between us, but we've always been friends, Lucky. If you need me, you know that I'm going to be here for you. You've already given me the most incredible gift by agreeing to keep this secret and be a father to the boys. I owe you so much more than just a conversation."

Lucky shrugged. "You're letting me be apart of Cam and Jake's life. You have no idea how much that means to me. I'm the lucky one. You don't owe me anything," he promised. Leaning back in his chair, he could still see what had made him fall in love with Elizabeth in the first place. There were so many reasons he could hate her, but underneath everything, he would always love her. Right or wrong, she had meant so much to him for so long. He was still angry, but he couldn't hate her. "Look, I need to talk to you about Sam. I know that you hate her and can't be objective, but I need you to be. Can you do that for me?"

There was nothing she wanted to do less, but she could tell that Lucky really needed to talk to someone. It was one of those conversations where he needed to get everything out without anyone really saying anything back. She could give him at least that. "Talk."

"I never thought it was possible to be completely in love with someone and then want nothing to do with them until our marriage fell apart," he explained. "After that, I never wanted to feel that way again. It was pure hell and made us into two strangers that barely recognized each other. However, the minute Sam chose not to be honest with me about what she did, I was put in that exact situation all over again. She was so caught up in her own pain that she put our children at risk. I know somewhere in her mind she had reasoned that nothing would happen to them, but how am I supposed to get past something like that? She had such a reckless disregard for the people that I care about most in the world. Imagine what she would have done if someone did this to Alexis and her sisters."

She didn't have to think about it. Elizabeth knew exactly how Sam would react. It would have been much like Liz had reacted when she found out the truth from Jason. Still, her heart went out to Lucky. She knew what it was like to care about someone when you knew that you shouldn't. Emotions don't always play well with logic. "You can't tell your heart who to love," she said. "I will never understand why she did what she did, but I know that there has to be something good in her. There has to be for you to care about her so much. I've never heard you say the words, but I know that you love Sam. The only advice I can give you is to figure out if you can forgive and trust her. That's what destroyed us, Lucky. By the end, we didn't trust each other, and too much had happened to forgive."

Taking in each word, Lucky knew that she was right – both about their relationship and his with Sam. There was so much he had to think about, and each fact was hitting him all at once. Feelings were at war in his mind, and he had no clue what the end result would be. He was about to thank Elizabeth for her insights when Jason came rushing through the front door with Dillon at his heels. Lucky waited for the mobster to ignore the fact that he was there and start to talk to Liz. He was completely shocked when it was Elizabeth who was ignored. "We need to talk."

"About?" Lucky asked sarcastically. He had nothing constructive to say to Jason right now.

"It's about Lulu," Dillon answered. "She's missing."


	4. Chapter 4

A stunned silence fell over the diner. A million images flooded Lucky's mind, everything from the day his baby sister was born at General Hospital with the widest eyes he had ever seen to the last time he had seen her standing behind the counter of the very same restaurant he was currently in. Lulu was missing and the person she counted on most in this world had been too wrapped up in his own problems to even notice. He immediately felt overwhelming guilt consume him as he stared blankly at the young blonde man standing in front of him. How had Dillon known when he was a thousand miles away and Lucky had been oblivious in the same town?

"How long has she been gone? What do you know?" he asked, looking from Dillon to Jason. His earlier conversation with Elizabeth was long forgotten as he grabbed his hooded leather jacket and headed for the door. Reaching for his cell phone in his back pocket, his first instinct was to put a call into the station. Mac could have an APB out on Lulu in seconds and every man would be out combing the streets of Port Charles for his baby sister. He was about to push the connect button when Jason reached out and snatched the phone away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Jason stared hard at Lucky for a minute before looking past the detective's shoulder at the petite brunette peering out at them from inside the café. "We think that her disappearance has something to do with Johnny Zacharra. If the cops start looking for her, there is a chance that whoever has her will just move her again. This has to be kept quiet for her sake. The less they move her, the easier it will be to find Lulu," he explained calmly. "Spinelli is keeping Logan and Johnny busy looking for her so that I can actually search. My guys are on it, and since she is your sister, I thought you should help. After what she's been through, Lulu is going to want to see you."

Sometimes, if he looked hard enough, Lucky could still see the semblance of the man that had almost been his friend once upon a time. He knew that there had to be some good to him if Emily had loved him so devoutly. Still, this was the man partly responsible for ruining his life. He hated that he had to work with him, but there was absolutely nothing he wouldn't do to make sure that Lulu came home safely to her family. "I will do whatever I have to do to protect my sister," he proclaimed coldly. He turned to Dillon and extended his hand to rest it on his shoulder. "How did you find out?"

"My mom called last night to see if I had heard from Lulu. She hadn't shown up for a few days, so she was starting to get worried," Dillon explained. Lucky could tell that he was nervous and clearly shaken up about Lulu's disappearance. He had long thought that his sister's brief affair with Dillon was more than a flash in the pan and the anxious way that Dillon stood before him now answered any reservations that he might have had. "I don't know where she could be, Lucky. I haven't talked to her since Christmas. The last time we talked, Lu was so angry at me. We fought. I hate that we left it like that. I won't forgive myself if anything…"

Shaking his head firmly, Lucky refused to let him finish the sentence. "Nothing is going to happen to my sister. She is a strong woman. Hell, she's a Spencer. We've survived worse," he retorted, more to himself than anyone else. "The three of us are going to work together to bring Lulu home. Between my resources at the station and Jason's manpower, we will find a way to do this. I was too worried about my own life to see what was happening right in front of my eyes. I let Lulu down once, and I refuse to do it again."

Looking up at Lulu's brother, Dillon felt the impact of his last sentence. Like Lucky, he had let Lulu down once – more than once, if he was truly honest with himself. He owed her this and so much more. He hadn't been the man she needed him to be during the pregnancy, and he hadn't fought hard enough to hold onto her in the months that had passed. He was going to make sure that he brought her home, and when he did, he was going to tell her exactly how he felt about her. Looking to Jason, he nodded resolutely. "Let's do this. Let's do whatever we have to do to bring her back."

Dillon's grand announcement was answered with a calm silence from Jason. He didn't say anything, choosing instead to lead the two men to an idling limousine in the back alley. This journey was one that was bound to change their lives, but he had to do this just as much as they did. Lucky was looking for redemption, doing his best to make up for a time when he hadn't been the brother that she needed. Dillon was searching for answers, trying to figure out how he felt about the vivacious blonde that reminded Jason all too much of another woman in his life. And Jason, well, he was trying to find forgiveness from that certain blonde for how he had lied to her. For all of them, getting Lulu back was the only resolution.

Once they were in the limo, Jason began to explain his plan of attack. "I had Spinelli run a trace on her cell phone. The last known activity it had was with a tower just north of town. Its signal pinged two days ago just after midnight. I already have guys out there searching. I've put taps on Trevor Lansing and Jerry Jacks because somehow, this has to be connected to Zacharra."

"I told Lulu to stay away from that scumbag," Lucky muttered. Lulu had been angry, telling him that she had been taking care of herself for long enough. However, she was desperate for an escape. She had seemed so tired of living her life. Now, Lucky understood that it wasn't her life she was tired of, it was a lie. She didn't want to go on pretending that she cared about Logan. She wanted to use Johnny to feel numb. Like her older brother, that was the kind of thing you did when you didn't want to feel the pain of a love lost. For a long time, his had been Elizabeth. Hers was Dillon, and now, he was starting to think that he was mourning the loss of Sam.

""Where could they be hiding her out there?" Dillon asked, trying to wrack his brains for a possible location. Time was wasting and the longer this went on, the more danger Lulu could be in.

Lucky thought for a moment. There were a few abandoned houses, a rundown biker bar and a dive café that hardly anyone frequented. However, just past what was considered the 'slum' of Port Charles, there was a gated fortress. "The monastery," he realized aloud. As soon as he said it, he was sure that was where she was. He also knew that time was of the essence, and that he needed to get to Lulu now. She wasn't the type to give in easy, so she was going to fight. He knew better than anyone what she was like when she fought. It could get her in trouble.

* * *

For the past hour, Lulu had been absently kicking the door in hopes that the guard would get annoyed and come back in the room. It wasn't much of a plan but in her exhausted state, it was the best one she could come up with. Someone had dropped off a tray of food a few minutes ago, but it looked fairly inedible. Besides, she wasn't going to give her captors the satisfaction of eating. She was determined to get sick because she knew that the monks would have to help her. It didn't matter how much they were being paid to keep her there, it was their moral obligation to help someone in distress. Still, as her stomach turned over and growled in protest, she figured that a small nosh couldn't hurt. She could eat just enough to get her through the night and settle down her racing mind. Maybe if she could think about something other than her hunger she would be able to come up with a plan that might actually work.

With a final kick against the bolted door, Lulu crawled across the room to the low table where her food tray sat untouched. There was some kind of nondescript meat in brown gravy, shriveled corn, a hard rye roll and a handful of waxy carrots – hardly the gourmet cuisine she had grown used to at the Quartermaine mansion thanks to Cook. However, in the smallest corner of the tray sat the answer to her prayers. The brittle cherry cobbler hardly looked edible, especially to someone as allergic to cherries as Lulu. She knew that one bite of the putrid dessert would cause her body to break out into hives and her throat to swell shut. It wouldn't kill her, but it would do enough to scare anyone else around her. Picking up the fork, she took a deep breath and hacked into it willingly. An allergic reaction would be the perfect diversion.

Ten minutes later, she was happy when the first red bumps started to appear on her smooth skin. Standing in front of the mirror, she opened her throat wide to inspect her tonsils. On cue, they were becoming lined with white pockets and swelling twice their usual size. "Help!" she called out before collapsing to the floor. She was going to pretend to be a little weaker than she was to get that additional sympathy. "Please, someone help me! Something's wrong."

An older man came into the room, a look of dismay playing in his gentle features. "Oh, dear," he gasped as he knelt at her side. Brushing back her golden hair, he ran his open palm over her forehead to check for a fever. Like she had predicted, Lulu was burning up. The man stood up and called out for someone else to come. Letting her eyes fall closed, she felt the men lift her and carry her out of the room. She gasped a few times for added affect, letting them think that she was having difficulty breathing. "It's okay, my child. We are taking you to the infirmary. Brother Frances will be able to heal whatever ails you."

Lulu felt slightly guilty that she was deceiving these holy men, but desperate times called for desperate measures. This was a game of survival and if her faceless enemies were going to play games, she was going to give them hardball. "Please help me," she implored softly. Her voice sounded so weak and frail. Her skin crawled with untamed itchiness as more hives swept over her entire body. Shaking off the physical pain, she tried to act clueless as she looked back at the robed. "What is happening to me?"

"We're getting you help, my child," he promised as they came into a bright room. She recognized the sterile smell of disinfectant as the men laid her own a hard gurney.

Lulu tried to sit up but fell back pitifully. She was a little weaker than she had thought she would be but still coherent enough to have control over the situation. Another man, this one in a robe with a red cross on the left breast, hovered over her with a flashlight. He began asking her a series of questions as he examined her.

"It appears that she is having an allergic reaction to something," the doctor told the man who had been guarding her. The other two men who had carried her stood nearby, watching carefully over their patient. "We do not have the proper medication here to treat you. We are going to have to transport her into the city to General Hospital."

"That is not possible," the guard informed them coldly. "Lulu is a very disturbed girl and something like that could have an even worse affect on her. You tell me what she needs and I will find a way to get it here immediately."

Peaking up at her doctor, Lulu saw the man nod before following the guard out of the room. The other two men remained behind. The first one who had found her padded over to the edge of the bed and took her limp hand in his. "We cannot just leave her here like this," he told the other softly. "I do not know what this guard is up to, but this girl will surely suffer if she does not get help now. We have to find a way to get her to the hospital."

Opening her eyes, she looked up at the man and smiled. "I think I might have a way."

* * *

Nikolas snapped his phone shut in frustration. He had been trying to call his brother all afternoon with no answer. He had also tried Lulu several times, but like Lucky, he had been unable to reach her. Alone in his hospital room, Nikolas was becoming more restless by the minute. Robin had come by to visit awhile ago and Lesley had picked up Spencer again as promised. It was only when he was alone again that his mind began to race.

It was night time that Nikolas dreaded most. It was also the time that he missed Emily the most. More often than not, he would conjure her up in his mind and allow her to comfort her. However, his earlier conversation with Nadine left him feeling slightly guilty. He didn't want Emily to see him like this.

"I can see you anyhow," she called out, clearly reading his mind. She was leaning in the door way of the room, her hair tousled slightly like she had just finished working a long shift. Every time he saw her in the hospital, she looked like she had just gotten off work. Dressed in her standard blue scrubs, this was the Emily he remembered at the hospital. It was strange how she would transform to fit his surroundings. "Did you have a good visit with Spencer earlier? I can't believe how big he has gotten in the last few weeks since we've been here."

Smiling a private smile reserved only for her, Nikolas nodded thoughtfully. Sliding over in the bed, he made room for Emily to perch on the edge. "Nadine brought him by for another visit. Every second that I am away from him, I feel like a part of me is missing. It's only when he's here at the hospital that I become whole again," he explained. He knew that Emily would understand even if he didn't quite get it himself. "I guess it's a lot like I feel when you leave. I'm not at peace until you're back again."

Small silver tears filled the corners of Emily's gentle eyes. "Nikolas, you know that I'm not really here with you. I am going to disappear again. Maybe it's time you star trying to find a way to be at peace without me," she retorted. He looked at her defiantly, but Emily reached up to cup his cheek. He softened under her warm and familiar touch. "You can't depend on me anymore to make you whole. If you do, there is always going to be a piece of you missing. I know that you don't want to let go of me, but I can't hold you back anymore."

He wanted to fight with her, but he knew that he would only be screaming at himself. Turning away, he fought back the tears that threatened to crest over the wall he had built behind his eyes. When glanced back, Emily was gone. Instead, Nadine was the one leaning in the doorway with tousled hair and blue scrubs. "Oh, it's you."

Nadine was jarred by the distance of his greeting. "Sorry, I just thought I would come by to check on you. I'll leave you alone," she apologized icily. Turning on her sneakered heel, she started to go until Nikolas called out to stop her. Glaring at him with her arms crossed, she waited for an apology. When it didn't come, she began to tap her toe impatiently. "Well?"

"I'm sorry," he said finally, looking down at his folded hands in shame. Nadine smiled brightly and shook her head. Nikolas bit his bottom lip to keep from smiling back at her. It hadn't taken much to convince her to let it go – only two simple words. The ease of it all reminded him so much of Emily. "She was just here. I looked away for a minute and then she was gone. When I looked up again, you were there. It was strange, that's all."

She studied him carefully, searching for the words to express what she was feeling. "You keep looking for something that isn't there anymore, Nikolas. I know what that feels like more than you know," she replied. "But eventually, you're going to stop looking up and expecting to see her. When that day comes, I'll still be here. You need a friend right now, and I want to be that for you. Emily isn't here anymore, but I promise you that I am not going to go."


	5. Chapter 5

It was just after three in the morning, and the quiet corridor outside Nikolas' room was like a ghost town. It had taken him a few hours, but after his parting conversation with Emily, he had somehow managed to find the sleep that his body desperately needed. Nadine had left him alone after promising that she was there to stay the course. So much had happened in such a short time, and the intensity of it all left her reeling. She needed to find a few minutes alone to process everything, but in the midst of the chaos at General Hospital, it was often impossible to find even a second to stop and breathe.

Only when Epiphany assigned her the night shift did she manage to slow down at all. Unless there was a bar fight at Jake's or a fraternity brawl over at PCU, nights at GH were fairly slow. There was the occasional car accident or mob-related shooting, but for the most part, Nadine was able to complete the tasks that were far too neglected during the week. She also managed to escape the watchful eye of the head nurse. While she wholeheartedly respected Epiphany's ever-professional manner, it was daunting at times how cold and disconnected the woman could be. Nadine was nothing like that. If anything, she cared far too much for the patients around her, and Nikolas Cassadine had quickly worked his way to the top of that list.

Slipping into the back of the empty chapel, Nadine gazed mournfully at the ornate alter in front of her. She had only come inside the small room once, a couple days after she arrived in Port Charles. She had knelt before the front pew and prayed that God would find a way to forgive her sister for the pain that she had caused. Since then, she had stayed away in hopes of letting go of that part of her past. However, on this particular night, she needed to embrace the woman she had been before she came to a new town. She needed to remember everything that led her there and pray that Nikolas might just turn out to be her redemption.

Her white leather tennis shoes shuffled over the thin carpet as she made her way to the front of the room. Striking a single match, she closed her eyes and said a silent prayer before lighting a small white votive candle and sitting down in the first pew. Drawing her knees up to her chin, Nadine leaned her forehead against the smooth fabric of her blue scrubs and slowly began to retrace the journey that had led her to that moment. She thought about her parents and the person that her sister used to be before everything fell apart. She remembered all the happiness that had come before the overwhelming sadness. She embraced each memory like a long-lost friend, embracing the images in her mind with a sense of familiarity she hadn't experienced in quite some time.

She knew that her break was almost over, and eventually, one of the doctors would page her to help with a mundane task or follow them on rounds. Still, she didn't feel inspired to leave the safe haven of the hospital chapel. Instead, she simply leaned back against the wooden bench and allowed her mind to wander to Nikolas. She had felt something for him twice, familiar pangs that she believed were long buried. No one had stirred that yearning in her for so long. Now, after holding his son and the way he looked at her when she promised to stay, she knew that there was something at play much bigger than her. There connection was undeniable, and though she was far from understanding what it all meant, she knew enough to know that she needed to pay attention to it. After feeling numb for so long, he was giving her reason to feel again.

"I figured this place would be empty," a voice called from behind her. Hairs prickled on the back of her neck as she turned around slowly to meet his warm coffee brown eyes. A slow smile spread across his lips as she lit up at the sight of him. "I come down here sometimes when I can't sleep. It used to be just a quiet place to sit, but now, I guess I come here to hear something, to say something. I don't feel as crazy talking to myself when I'm here."

Nadine nodded knowingly as Nikolas padded down the aisle toward her. Clad in a plush navy robe and a pair of worn slippers, he sat next to her and stared up at the rows of candles. "Who do you talk to?" she asked curiously, not daring to look at him. Instead, she followed his gaze to the twinkling lights. "Emily?"

"Not just her," he answered honestly. Nikolas looked down at his hands and then up into her inquiring eyes. With that simple look, he wanted to be the solution to all her questions, the answer to all her prayers. "I come here to talk to my mom. I can't leave her to visit her, so I come here and do the only thing I can to be with her. I don't think I have to explain what a place like that means to me. It's what brings you here."

She didn't reply as she fingered the sterling silver locket that hung around her neck. Playing with the delicate chain, she realized for the first time how true that was. In the chapel, she didn't just pray to God, she spoke to her father. It was comforting and terrifying at the same time. As her shoulders began to shake with the onset of tears that had gone unshed for far too long, Nadine received the only comforting gesture she would ever need. Nikolas reached down, took her hand and returned his eyes to the burning altar. Long after the tears had subsided and the last candle had flickered out, Nikolas and Nadine sat alone in the chapel quietly remembering.

* * *

When Dillon had first arrived in Port Charles, he used to complain how you could see the entire city in fifteen minutes. After growing up gallivanting across Europe, the picturesque New York town seemed so confining. Everyone knew everyone and had for generations. His family name came with a reputation that he would never manage to escape so as long as he was within 100 miles of the white mansion with its pristine grounds and sparkling lake. 

However, as he sat beside Jason in the backseat of a black stretch limousine, the town had never seemed bigger. Lucky had easily figured out that his sister was being kept in a monastery on the edge of city limits. The driver had been ordered to hurry, but it seemed that they were hitting every red light. News of a missing person, though still unnamed, had quickly swept through the seaside town, and police were actively combing the streets. Now was not the time to get pulled over for some minor traffic offense, leaving the car's three inhabitants to impatiently wait.

Leaning back into the soft leather seat, Dillon looked past his cousin and out to the night sky. He tried to remember what his life had been like a year ago at this time. It was just after the hostage situation at the Metrocourt when he had finally realized how deeply in love he was with Lulu. The months that followed had been excruciating as they danced around the biggest truth that would go untold. She would never fully give in to what was between them for fear that they would lose everything they had fought so hard to rebuild. For the first time in his life, Lulu Spencer actually managed to act on logic and ration. For the first time in his life, Dillon wanted to live on instinct. Between the two of them, the combination was fruitless.

Everything that had happened after her ultimate rejection of him had been in response to losing Lulu. Going to Toronto was the only way to forget how much he cared about her, but he knew that he couldn't escape the memory of them together. Sitting in that limo, even with the two other men, he knew that he was alone. No one other than Lulu could understand how he felt, and in that moment, he wanted to make up for everything. He wanted to find a way to erase the past six months so that he never left Port Charles. He wanted to go back to that last night in the boathouse and take back that fight. He just wanted her.

"We need to come up with some sort of a plan," Lucky announced suddenly, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had settled over the car. "We can't all three just go storming in there and making demands."

Jason nodded stoically. "I can't be the one to make the approach. I know that these guys are monks, but let's face it, even they read the newspaper. My face has appeared on the front page more than once. They will recognize me."

"I'll go," Dillon volunteered. He needed to be the first one there. He needed to be the one to save Lulu. He owed her so much more than that, and if she would give him the chance, this would be the first gesture in a lifetime of making it up to her. "I'll tell them that I am going through a rough patch and ask for a room for the night. I'm guessing that they usually keep their boarders near each other. I've been out of town the entire time Lu's been wrapped up in the Zacharra mess. The guards won't recognize me."

"That might work," Jason agreed, looking to Lucky for his approval. "While Dillon does that, you and I can try to find a back way in. A lot of these old monasteries have underground tunnels that lead to rooms via secret passages."

Thinking about his brother's mausoleum on Spoon Island, Lucky knew that was their surest way into a place where no one would want them. The three of them quickly worked out a plan that would begin with Dillon's infiltration and hopefully end with Lulu's rescue. For Jason, it was the only outcome he could hope for. For Lucky, it was the only outcome he could allow. For Dillon, it was the only outcome he would live with. Leaving without her was not an option.

* * *

Lulu had been pretending to sleep for more than an hour in the quiet infirmary. The two kind men, the doctor and the monk who had found her, had held vigil over her while the guard remained outside in the hall. They had turned on a loud machine to drown out the hushed conversation so that he could not hear the plan the young blonde had concocted. If followed perfectly, she could manage to find herself on the outside before day break. 

"It's fairly simple," she explained, her blue eyes sparkling with defiant mischief. "These guys need me alive. If you can convince him that I am sick enough to be transported to General Hospital, there will be people waiting for me on the other end. Otherwise, I am in serious danger. I can promise you a very generous contribution to your efforts here if you help me escape. Between the Quartermaines and Jason Morgan and Carly Jacks, you will not have to seek funding for quite some time."

"Money is not our motive for anything," the doctor assured her. He was the first person involved in the monastery to pick up on the suspicious activity. The blonde didn't seem disturbed as the men had described. Instead, she was fully aware and capable. It was clear that she was being used as some kind of pawn in a web of anger and deceit. "However, I don't think that they are going to just dismiss you so easily. I am going to have to lie to protect you. That goes against everything that I stand for, but your life is clearly at stake here."

"What do you propose?" the assistant asked, wringing his hands nervously.

Glancing at both men, she knew that neither of them were used to coming up with a plan. Thankfully for them, she was a Spencer, and if there was one thing they could do, it was come up with a plan. "I am going to fake a seizure. Tell them that I had an allergic reaction to a medication that requires an injection that you don't keep here. Make sure that you call an ambulance well before it happens so that the medical team will arrive in advance. Mention the name Patrick Drake when you do and request that he be sent along. He won't leave knowing that I'm here and in trouble."

The two monks listened to everything Lulu said before agreeing to the plan. They would leave her alone for roughly twenty minutes, long enough for the guard to believe that the supposed medication had set in. Then, they would return to find her in convulsions. Meanwhile, the assistant would call and request an ambulance with Patrick Drake onboard. By the time they arrived, Lulu would have the guards convinced that if she didn't go, she could die. It was their last chance.

Leaving Lulu alone, the monks quickly went about putting the plan into action. In the quiet solitude of the infirmary, Lulu asked her mother to watch over her as she lay on the sterile hospital bed. Her mind turned to Dillon as it often did when she was alone. She could have sworn that she could feel his presence near her but quickly shook it off for loneliness. Her entire life, Lulu had waited for someone to come along and save her, but in the end, she had always ended up having to save herself. Between her catatonic mother and her absentee father, she never had much in the way of parental guidance. Lucky had been a child himself for much of her adolescence, and Nikolas didn't even know that she was his brother for far too many years. Lulu had managed to survive this long on her own, and she could do it now if she had to. Part of her just wished that Dillon was there to do it for her. She knew that if he knew, he would.

* * *

_Author's Note: Sorry that it has taken me awhile to update it. For those reading my other story, I'm working on it. The reviews have been fewer than I usually get...Do you like the progress of this story? Should I keep going? I could use some feedback (and encouragement) here. I rarely ask for it from you all, so if you could send it my way, it might help inspire more frequent updates. Cheers!_


	6. Chapter 6

Flames flickered across the charcoal grey wall as Sam sat alone in her living room, watching the fire dance from her place on the sofa. She had been home for hours now, frozen in the same spot feeling the same emotions that had consumed her for weeks. A year ago, she had expected her life to be something very different. This time last year, she was dealing with newfound celebrity after she became a so-called hero in the hostage crisis at the Metrocourt. She had expected to still be with Jason and hopefully have a child on the way. Instead, she was alone in a penthouse suite that she would have traded for a second chance.

Of all her past sins and transgressions, lying to Lucky would forever be at the top of the list. The deception she had concocted toward his children was inconceivable and inexcusable. Part of her had known that he would never be able to forgive her. She wanted so desperately for him to do just that, but putting herself in his position made it so clear. If someone had done the same thing to Molly and Kristina, she would want to kill them. The pain she had caused, no matter how rooted in unyielding pain and anger, was beyond awful. Two children who had no control over their destinies had been hurt because of what she had done. She wished that she could take it back, but she couldn't. She could only move on from here.

Reaching behind her, she flicked off the tall silver floor lamp and took another long sip from her cabernet. She had bought the bottle when she was in on her last trip to Europe, filming scenes for _Everyday Heroes_. She had planned on giving it to Lucky on their first night in the cottage together. Now, he would never taste the aged wine, and she would never spend another night in his arms. They would never live together, share a life together or even be in the same room alone together. No matter what happened, ghosts of relationships past would always be there to haunt them, and that was Sam's fault. She had done this, and for the first time in her life, she needed to take responsibility for that. She couldn't blame anyone else because there was no one else there.

She thought about downing the rest of the wine and heading to bed but decided to head out to the terrace for a few minutes of reflection. She hadn't spent much time out here since the breakup because it brought back so many memories. Closing the glass door behind her, she immediately headed for the hot tub. It had been covered for months, unused in the harsh and unrelenting New York winter. Brushing her bare hand across the cover, she brushed away a dusting of snow. This was where it all began. Her entire relationship with Lucky was cemented the night he finally gave into what they had both been feeling. Only later would that lust turn into love.

Inside the pocket of her cotton robe, Sam could feel her phone begin to vibrate against her thigh. Setting the goblet down on the ledge, she retrieved it and checked the screen. Surprised at the name flashing across the screen, she quickly flipped it open. "Hello?"

A soft chuckling sigh met her skeptical greeting, immediately sending shivers through her petite frame. "Don't sound so surprised," Lucky teased softly. Sam smiled to herself, relieved at his warm tone. "I need to ask you a favor."

"Anything," she promised immediately. It didn't matter what he asked for, she would do whatever he needed. "What's going on, Lucky? You don't sound right."

On the other end of the line, Lucky squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Sam had easily been able to pick up on his different insinuations and moods early on in their friendship. It killed him now to think how well she knew him. "It's Lulu," he confessed. "She's missing. I can't go into much more than that because I don't want to put you at risk. I'm working on it and until I tell you otherwise, I need for you to keep this to yourself with one exception. I need you to go visit with Nikolas and tell him what I'm up to."

"Are you sure you want to do that? He's still in this hospital," Sam reminded him. She didn't want to question Lucky's request but still feared for her cousin's well-being. The past few months had been so hard on him, and the thought of bringing him any more pain was too hard to swallow. "I don't want to have to tell him unless there is really something to have to tell."

"I know you don't," Lucky retorted knowingly. "I wouldn't ask you to do this unless I was absolutely sure, but if something happens to either of us, he needs to be prepared. I know it's a lot to ask, but if I don't come back, I need you to promise that you'll take care of Nikolas for me. He is going to need a lot of help in the next few months."

"First of all, you are going to come home with your little sister, so we don't even need to think about that," she insisted. "And as for being there for my cousin, I have planned to be by his side all along. When you rescue Lulu, we can all be there for Nikolas. You have to go into this believing in yourself, Lucky. If you can't do that, then I will do it for you."

Lucky raked his fingers through his hair self-consciously. He wanted to say so many things to her. He wanted to make her see that he still cared, even if he couldn't fathom why she had done the things she had done. Instead, he gave her the truest part of himself in case he never got the chance again. "I need to tell you something, McCall, and I need you to just listen to me without interruption."

His request scared Sam, but she knew that she had to give him what he needed. They were facing an impossible situation, and it was clear that there was something that he needed to get out. "You can tell me anything, Lucky."

With a small smile, Lucky turned away from his companions and looked toward the moon. They were posted a half-mile away from the monastery, working out the last minute details of their plan. He had promised himself that he would call her before going in there because there was still one thing that had gone completely left unsaid. "For as long as I live, I will never understand why you did the things you did. No matter the pain or anger, I can't imagine hurting two innocent children out of hate for someone else," he said. Sam gasped and started to replay, but Lucky put her back in her place. "Just listen. With that said, I'm starting to realize that I don't have to understand it. It happened, and I've accepted that. All of that doesn't change what has happened between us. It doesn't change how the core of my heart feels. The biggest part of me knows that I shouldn't feel this way, but that part of me knows that I can't help it. I still love you, Sam."

Stunned silence was her only reply. Small tears had sprung to the corners of her eyes, slowly slipping past the brink to roll down her tanned cheeks. There were approximately two million things Sam wanted to ay, but only four words seemed to fit, "I love you, too."

"I know," he retorted. "After all of this, I really do know that. Look, I have to go, but I couldn't do this without you knowing how I felt. I'm not sure what it means or if anything will come out of this. The only thing I am sure of is that I do love you, and that we will try to see what is still between this if I come home."

"_When_ you come home," she corrected him bravely. "And you will come home, Lucky. You have something to come home to. You have your brother and your sons. You have me."

* * *

Dillon watched Lucky hang up the phone and shove it back into his pocket. Jason had wandered off as well, his silver cell plastered to his ear. He could hear his cousin's soft laughter. If he listened carefully enough, he could hear the occasional word or phrase. From what Dillon had gathered, Jason was talking to Carly, the only person on the planet who could elicit such a reaction from the cold and calculating mobster. As someone who had once had such a connection to a Spencer woman, Dillon could relate. He only hoped that he would have the chance to have a similar conversation with Lulu very soon.

He had thought about calling his mom to tell her about the plan but thought against it. She would only worry about her son and Lulu or even worse, tell Luke. The last thing anyone needed was the patriarch to make his appearance with grandstanding plans of saving his daughter. He was still recovering from heart surgery, and the last thing Dillon wanted was anything that would slow him down. Besides, Luke had always managed to show up just in time to save Lulu while Dillon had been there all along to support her. It was his turn to get that glory moment. For once, he didn't want anything (or anyone) to stand between them. After the past two years, they deserved to have that.

Jason reappeared by his side and silently handed over a robe for Dillon to change into to. Offering the limo as his private dressing room, the younger man slid into the backseat. Replacing his vintage tee and faded jeans with plain khaki pants and a white shirt, he was doing his best to become the part. He patted down his trademark wild hair and pulled the hideously ugly brown robe over his clothes. Lucky only offered a smirk when Dillon emerged from the car, muttering to himself as he tied the black cord belt at his waist. The detective could laugh all he wanted. Dillon didn't care what anyone thought; he just wanted to bring Lulu home.

Wandering away from the other men, he left the two of them to work out the logistics. They were used to doing this sort of thing, and he trusted them to come up with the perfect plan. Alone, he may have never relied on them. However, he knew that Lulu believed in Jason and Lucky, and Dillon believed in Lulu. They would do whatever they had to do to bring her home just like he would. He glanced at them once more before slinking to the cold ground and leaning back against the towering oak tree. Closing his eyes, he wanted one last moment alone to gather the courage he would need. He wasn't at all surprise when his mind drifted back to a moment on a hot summer night when they had stood alone together on the docks, staring out at the water. It was before the abortion, before he knew the truth. It was a moment of perfection, one that had comforted him more than she could ever know.

"_That's a Spencer for you," Lulu joked. "We're cool in a crisis, and we talk a great game 'til we really win, and then we lose it in the follow-through."_

_Dillon looked at her with an amused smirk. "I'm sorry, is that a warning?"_

_She stared distantly at the water below, the breeze the strands of blonde hair that had managed to escape from her ponytail. "Neon red lights."_

_He couldn't help but smile as her gaze lifted to meet his. Clad in a long red skirt and yellow tank top, she looked so beautiful in even the simplest attired. "Okay, I…maybe Luke, maybe Carly, maybe even Lucky from to time, but Lulu, not you. Not you."_

"_Dillon, no," she insisted frustrated as she brushed past him. There was a definite feeling of exasperation as she crossed her arms over her stomach protectively. "You don't even know me, Dillon."_

"_I don't know you?" he challenged. A sudden burst of wind came up from the harbor and whipped his sky blue shirt around him as he followed her across the pier. Dillon dropped his voice to an intimate tone that could only exist between lovers. "Okay. You laugh out loud at comic strips. Your favorite ice cream is vanilla caramel. You twist your hair when you're anxious. You hum to yourself when you're alone – or at least when you think you're alone – but not on a bad day. I could go on…"_

_Lulu turned to stare at him with an awe-inspired smile. "How do you…?"_

"_Because I pay attention."_

_She refused to see the amazing woman that he could see in her. Dillon didn't know it at the time, but it was because she knew the entire truth. "Dillon, no," she countered. "You forgot the part about me being selfish."_

_Dillon scoffed at her inability to see what was so clear to him. "Oh, the part about you? Okay, all right, fine," he conceded. "You're impulsive and you're totally defensive and you never do anything halfway, but you're not selfish…"_

_They had argued for a few more minutes, her trying to tell him the truth and him not wanting to see it. He had held onto her tightly, standing behind her with his arms wrapped firmly around her waist. In those moments, he just wanted to feel her against him, to be connected to the girl he not only considered his best friend but someone he was beginning to love. In the end, he had reached out for her and pulled her into a kiss._

"_Dillon, I am extremely flawed," she reminded him again. It was another warning, another opportunity for him to escape from this spiraling situation._

"_So? I'm extremely flawed," he pointed out. "So am I, so is everyone. Who cares about the flaws? You're beautiful and you're smart and you're fun, and you're the best thing that's happened to me in a long time."_

"_That's my line."_

Coming up on two years later, Dillon couldn't believe how clearly he could recall every detail of that conversation. They had gone to the boardwalk that night, chasing each other through the funhouse and sharing a carton of nachos before riding the rollercoaster. He could still feel her tiny hand in his when they walked from the garage to the boathouse. He could remember everything about waking up with her in his arms the next morning. Everything after that night became a blur of anger, pain and heartache – a time in his life that he would change completely if given the chance. He was being given that second chance tonight by having the opportunity to be the man to save her. He hadn't saved her that summer when he should have been there. Dillon would not let her down this time.

* * *

They had been sitting quietly for so long, not another word passing between them for what seemed like hours when Nikolas finally turned to look at Nadine. He had once heard his mother talk about seeing Luke for the first time after the rape. She hadn't meant the very first time she had seen him after the incident but about the first time she had really seen him. She had found a way in her amazing capacity to love and forgive to see past all the agony and terror to the truest part of him. Even after all that, she had looked at him and found the man that she would forever love.

Well, looking at Nadine in the chapel wasn't exactly like that for Nikolas, but he could finally understand what the message of the story meant. For the three months that had passed since Emily's death, he had been going through the motions of living without ever really connecting to anyone. However, the strong blonde woman sitting before him had changed that without his realization or permission. She had worked her way into his life, and suddenly, he had looked up and seen her place. His emotions were still indefinable, but they were there. For the first time in months, he felt something other than pain that was real.

"Thank you," he whispered softly, his dark eyes locked on her wide blue orbs. Not a trace of embarrassment or discomfort masked her face. He didn't scare her at all. Since the night of the ball, he hadn't felt that at peace in his own skin. Suddenly, it didn't seem to matter that he had a brain tumor or could lose sense of time in any given moment. The only thing that mattered was whatever was going on in this safe, comforting room. "For the first time in a long time, I feel like it's finally okay to be me."

Nadine smiled at him warmly while resisting the urge to reach up and cup his cheek in her palm. The feelings she had for Nikolas were beginning to change into something much more than a nurse should feel for a patient, that a friend should feel for a friend. She knew that there was too much going on in his life for them to have a real chance right now. He was dealing with his own mortality, let alone the loss of his fiancée and soulmate. She had to forget how she felt. "It's always been okay for you to be you, Nikolas," she promised. "But you're welcome. I'm glad that I could help you."

"Don't do that," he ordered firmly. He knew what she was trying to do. "Don't distance yourself from me because that's what you think you should do. I don't need you to protect me from you. Don't pull away."

"I'm not trying to protect you," she confessed, finally breaking his gaze. She turned away, afraid what she would find if she looked back at him again. "I'm trying to protect my heart. You're not the only one that stands a risk of getting hurt. It's not what I think I should do. It's what I have to do."

Neither of them wanted to feel what they were feeling. Between the bad timing and the confusion that consumed both, it was far from an ideal way to fall in love. And while they were far from making any kind of grand declarations of unconditional love for the rest of their lives, the feelings that sparked such an intense connection were already there, brewing just below the surface. "We'll figure this out," he promised. "Just don't leave me before we get the chance."


	7. Chapter 7

Her entire life, Nadine had been the one to take care of people. It had been natural for to become a nurse, and when she stepped foot on the children's ward at General Hospital, she knew that she would make pediatrics her specialty. She had everything planned out from the very minute she arrived in Port Charles and until she met Nikolas Cassadine, everything had gone exactly as she had imagined. However, the minute she laid eyes on the dark handsome prince in the bleak aftermath of the horrific events at Wyndamere, her entire plan had been thrown out the window. No longer did she imagine long, lingering conversations with Spinelli over hot cups of coffee at Kelly's. Instead, she wondered what it would be like to be the woman sitting next to Nikolas on the dark couch in the sitting room of his castle, the beautiful Spencer tucked between them.

All girls fantasized about what it would be like to become a princess, but even now, she didn't think that it was actually a possibility. Nadine was quite aware that he was still nursing quite a heartache. There are some things that are nearly impossible to come back from, and she knew that losing Emily had been an unimaginable blow to Nikolas' entire world. She couldn't compete with the ghost of a soulmate. Even if she thought that she could, she didn't want to. She wanted this to be something entirely different, not better necessarily but something all their own. Still, with every step she took, she couldn't help but think that someone somewhere was watching her knowing that Emily would have done it better.

Tonight, sitting with him in the chapel, Nadine had a flash of what could be if she would only open her heart enough to give it a chance. He had made such a simple request, pleading her to stay until they had time to figure it out. It wasn't going to be easy between the complications of a grieving fiancée and a brain tumor that still connected him to her. However, something in her heart told her that if she could just be patient, this would all be worth it in the end. Nikolas was worth fighting for, but it was hard to fight something (or someone) that wasn't even there. She couldn't compete with the history that they had shared. She knew that wasn't what he would want her to do, but a simple girl like her couldn't help but feel like she was second rate in comparison into a rich, beautiful doctor who just happened to be the love of his life and a princess.

"Is he resting?" a soft, husky voice asked behind her. Nadine tore her eyes away from the window where she had peacefully been watching Nikolas sleep for the past hour since they'd returned from the hospital church. Turning around, she was surprised to see the petite host of a television show standing before her. Sam mustered a warm smile and looked past the nurse's shoulder to check on her sleeping cousin. "How's he been doing? I haven't been by to visit in a few days. I should have been here sooner."

Nadine returned the smile timidly. She knew that Sam McCall was related to Nikolas through his Aunt Alexis, a woman that he always spoke of so fondly. "He's doing better tonight than he has been," she answered honestly. "He just fell asleep awhile ago. We've been down in the chapel for awhile talking since he has so much trouble sleeping at night. He gets restless. I guess we both do."

Sam instantly picked up on something that the blonde wasn't saying but decided to leave her questions for Nikolas. She didn't feel right prying into the life of someone that she barely knew, and if she was connected to her cousin, he would let the family know in due time. But she could still sense that there was something going on between the two of them, and considering the winter Nikolas had, she thought he could use any happiness that he could get. "I know that it's late and past visiting hours, but I was hoping that I could see him anyhow," she requested. "I don't want to get you into any trouble, but his brother asked me to pass along some news. I hate to wake him, but it's really important."

"Lucky?" Nadine asked worriedly. Nikolas had talked about his brother and sister a lot during the time she had gotten to know him, and she knew that it had been awhile since either had stopped into visit him at the hospital. "If it's an emergency, of course you should wake him. I'm going to go down to the nurse's station to check on my other patients. If you need anything, just have them page me directly."

"Thanks," Sam replied before letting herself into Nikolas' room. She watched Nadine pause outside the window for a minute longer before ducking her head and walking out of view. Stepping to the side of her cousin's bed, she gently shook him. "Nikolas, it's Sam. I need you to wake up. I have something important to tell you."

It took a moment for Nikolas to become coherent and sit up. Wiping his eyes with the back of his tanned hand, he struggled to focus on Sam. "What's going on? It's the middle of the night. Is Alexis okay? Is it the girls?"

Sam shook her head calmly and pulled a chair to the railing of his bed. "Lucky sent me to talk to you. He called awhile ago. He would have told you himself, but he is unreachable. Lulu is missing."

"Lu?" he nearly shouted worriedly. His little sister had been missing, and he'd had no idea. "I have to get out of here and go help him."

"You can't do that," she insisted firmly. "That's not why I came here. Look, I don't know much because Lucky didn't want to risk endangering either of us. You can't tell anyone about this either. Lucky is looking for her right now, and he's not alone. We just have to trust your brother right now to take care of himself and your sister."

Turning away, Nikolas stared out at the black sky teasing him from his picture window. He could hear the words that Sam wasn't saying. She wasn't telling him that his brother was in danger. She wasn't telling him that Lucky didn't know how this was going to end. She wasn't telling him that Lulu's life was at risk. She wasn't telling him that they could lose both of them. She wasn't telling him that she was just as scared as he was.

He needed someone who would tell him the truth. He had to hear the absolute worst so that he could hope for the very best. Sam wasn't going to be that person, and even if she was, he wasn't sure that he could trust her right now. There was only one person that put his mind at ease, and that was the person that he needed more than anything in the world right now. Six months ago, it would have been an entirely different person, but life had changed. He was finding a way to move forward, to move on. "Get Nadine."

* * *

By the time the monks had returned from town with the medication, Lulu felt like she had been waiting for an eternity. She had never been more relieved to see another human being as when the two old men crept back into the infirmary with the vials. She knew that the guard was still waiting outside. Sitting alone in the room, she would have sworn that she could hear him breathing on the other side of the heavy door. 

"It's just a placebo," the doctor informed her as he prepped the needle. His assistant stood by and watched as Lulu was injected with the clear liquid. "We need to wait a few minutes before you go into the seizure. Medication takes time to work its way through the bloodstream, and we need for this to be believable. One false step and we could all pay."

Lulu nodded obediently as she reclined against the uncomfortable examination table. She hated that she was asking these holy men to lie for her, but it was the only way she could ensure her safety. Lulu wasn't exactly sure what she thought in the way of religion, but she knew that there had to be someone out there watching over her. The Spencers had lived through too much to not have a few guardian angels up there. As she stared at the bright overhead lights, she silently prayed that her mother was one of them and that she was protecting her now. She just needed a sign that everything was going to be okay.

As if on cue, the clock chimed from the bookcase across the room. Lulu's eyes flew to the sterling silver piece, amazed at what her ears were hearing. She remembered the hymn from when she was a child. It had been one of her mother's favorites, a tune that she could remember hearing Laura hum as she cleaned on Saturday mornings. It also paid homage to her father's infamous nickname for his wife, Angel. The chimes were clearly playing "Ten Thousand Angels," and she was sure that her mother was with her now.

After a few more minutes of silence, Lulu looked to the doctor. He nodded silently, and she began to fake convulsions. She started out slowly, growing in intensity as time passed. The guard came in, and she did her best to block everything out. She allowed her eyes to roll back into her head. One of the monks spoke to the guard, using terms that she couldn't understand. He tried to argue, but eventually, perceived logic won out and an ambulance was called. She kept shaking as the monk spoke to the emergency personnel, carefully listening for Patrick's name. When the magic words were spoken, she began to slow down the convulsions before allowing her eyes to fall shut.

"We need to get her to the hospital immediately," the doctor informed the guard. "Another reaction like that could kill her. I will ride with her in the ambulance. You can ride with my assistant in the car behind us. Nothing will happen to the young girl as long as we get her help."

"I am holding you personally responsible for taking care of our dear Lulu," the guard mumbled, trying to sound sincere. "My boss would hate it if something happened to his niece. She is very important to him. She holds so much of his future in her hands, and he needs her to keep his family name going."

The monks told him that they understood and promised that he would take care of her. The guard left to make a phone call, giving them just a few minutes to put their plan into place. Lulu glanced at the clock again and glanced up toward the sky. _I need both my angels_, she told God. _I don't know if it's possible, but if you could just have my mom and Dillon with me somehow, I know that I can get through this._ She didn't even ask for a sign this time, she just trusted. The monks worked quickly to prepare her for transport, wheeling her table toward the front of the infirmary. The distant sound of sirens was approaching, and Lulu felt her pulse quicken involuntary. She could hear freedom, and nothing had ever sounded better.

They were waiting in the hallway when the guard returned, clearly livid. She didn't understand what was going on, but it was clear that he had discovered something that he didn't like. "Lulu is not going anywhere. There were some men spotted on the grounds some time ago. It's not safe for her to leave right now," he informed them. "I will allow the medical team to come in and work on Lulu. If they need to get supplies, we can have them sent here. Her safety is my prime concern, and she could be ambushed if we leave before the monastery has been secured."

Lulu tried to figure out who could be after her. She wanted to believe that someone in her family had picked up on her sudden disappearance, but as distant and all over the map as she had been lately, she doubted that they had figured it out yet. "Do you know who is after her?" the assistant asked, feigning genuine concern.

"I'm not sure if you have ever heard of him, but he goes by the name of Jason Morgan," the guard explained. He tried to make his tone seem more sinister to paint Jason in an evil light. Lulu was bursting inside knowing that he was looking for her. "He is a mobster, the right-hand man to Sonny Corinthos. He's a well-known enforcer and hitman. Their organization wants to kidnap Lulu and would use whatever means necessary to do so."

"Is he alone?" the doctor asked, matching his assistant's faux anxiety. "If there is only one of them, surely we can work together to take him out."

Her eyes still closed, Lulu took the rustling sound for the guard shaking his head. "There is believed to be three men total. One is man of similar height with dark hair. The other is a little shorter with spiked blonde hair. They must be new to the Corinthos organization"

Scanning the profiles of the various guards and workers Lulu had met over the past few years, she couldn't find anyone she knew in the organization that fit the descriptions. Their two most trusted guards, Max and Milo, were known throughout the mob world. These were clearly fresh recruits…except, what if they weren't recruits at all? Lucky was about the same height as Jason and definitely had the dark hair. As soon as she figured out that it was her brother, she knew who the other man had to be. It could only be one person. She wasn't sure why he wasn't in Toronto, but he had come to save her. Dillon was there.

She wanted to cry out to him immediately but decided against it. She needed to make it seem as though it was part of the reaction, like she was hallucinating or having a nightmare. Slowly, she began to let her body tremble so that she could work up to convulsions again. The shaking consumed her entire frame and felt so realistic that she could almost believe she was actually having a seizure. The monks tried to sooth her, but Lulu kept shaking. Finally, she opened her mouth and called out loudly, hoping against hope that he would somehow hear her. "Dillon!" she screamed, shaking violently. Her voice echoed as the doctor wiped a damp cloth over her brow. "Dillon! Dillon! Dillon!"

* * *

Lucky knew that they had been spotted some time ago, but the three men were determined to make it inside the monastery. They had split up a few minutes earlier. Dillon had filed at the end of a line of monks returning from dawn prayer while Jason headed off toward the underground tunnels. Lucky was positioned near the front exit so that he could keep watch on the approaching traffic. They needed any break they could, and at this point, Lucky would take any in that he could get.

He had been sitting alone for too long, even if it had only been less than ten minutes. The silence was eerily deafening, reminding him of those dark months he had been held hostage by Faison and Helena. He tried not to remember that bleak period in his life, but at times like this, it was hard not to. He had been in Lulu's place before when he was about her age. They had gone through too many similar situations for his liking. With the downfall of the former Cassadine empire, he had thought their danger would be gone. He had never thought that she could get mixed up with the mob thanks to Jason and Sonny.

Shaking his head, he refused to blame anyone. Jason was there helping him, and for that, Lucky was infinitely grateful. He heard a loud sound and for a moment, he would have sworn that it was screaming. However, a minute later, he was welcomed with the harmonic murmur of the monks chanting and giving thanks to God. Under ordinary circumstances, it would have been a beautiful sound. However, in that moment, it was an annoying distraction. He needed to be on high alert and couldn't be misguided by their song. Turning toward the monastery, he scanned the windows and exterior balconies. He just wanted a sign that Lulu was okay.

That sign never came as soon a roaring ambulance rushed through the gates and down the dusty driveway leading to the building. Lucky knew instantly that it was for his sister. Reaching into his pocket, he texted his observation to Jason and waited for a reply. When it didn't come immediately, Lucky took matters into his own hands. Stripping off his black overcoat and pinned his badge to the pocket of his denim shirt. Waiting until the ambulance was parked, he rushed to join the cluster of people emerging from the back doors. He was surprised to see Patrick Drake, a surgeon, working with the team.

"What are you doing hear?" Lucky asked, trying to figure out the explanation behind all of this. "You don't work emergency."

Patrick didn't know that Lulu was missing and had assumed that the policeman was here because of his sister. "Your sister told them to send me. They mentioned that Carly Jax's cousin had gone into a seizure. Isn't that why you are here?"

"Yes, but not for the reason that you think," Lucky retorted. He reached into the ambulance and pulled out a scrub top. He quickly discarded his shirt after pocketing his badge. Dressed in medical gear, he stood next to Patrick and listened to the paramedics barking directions. "Hold up."

The lead paramedic turned to him. "Excuse me, who are you?"

"Detective Lucky Spencer with the PCPD," Patrick answered for him. "I am commanding you to listen to whatever direction he gives."

Lucky turned to the doctor. "Lulu has been kidnapped. I'm not sure what is going on in there or if she is even sick. No matter what you find in there, you need to do what you can to get her out. Tell them that she is in danger and needs to be in a hospital. The guy who has her wants to keep her alive. Keep telling him that she will die if we don't get her to GH. I don't care what lies you have to tell or how bad you have to make it. We need to get Lu out."

"What if she really is sick?" the paramedic asked.

Patrick narrowed his eyes at the cop before speaking up. "We do what we have to do to stabilize her and then we get her out of there. I'm not going to lose my patient either way."

The team agreed and quickly headed toward the entrance of the monastery. Lucky positioned himself between Patrick and another paramedic, carefully taking in his surroundings as they were led to an emergency elevator. They were just about to step foot onto the lift when he heard the distinct sound of his sister's screams. Her voice was distorted and urgent, almost as if she was forcing herself to sound deranged. He knew what Lulu sounded like in distress and this wasn't it. This was a conscious Lulu, a Lulu that knew exactly what she was doing.


	8. Chapter 8

Sam sat alone in the corner table at Kelly's, watching as the surprising snowflakes fell from the dark sky. It was late in the winter for snow to come, but a fresh blanket of white powder was quickly covering the streets of Port Charles. Under ordinary circumstances, she would be at home, tucked safely beneath a pile of blankets with one of her favorite movies. That had been her favorite part of being with Lucky, he was just as much a homebody was she was. Their careers was filled with enough adrenaline and excitement that there was nothing better than coming home to each other at the end of a long day. She wished that was a possibility now because today had certainly been one for the record books. Instead, she could only listen to the soft melody drifting through the air and pray that he would find what he was looking for and come home safely.

"Penny for your thoughts?" a cheerful voice said to her, breaking Sam from her silent reverie. She looked up, surprised to see the young man looking down at her. With his mussed hair sticking out from beneath his trademark black beanie, he looked every part the scattered college student he'd been the first day she met him. Now, she knew that Spinelli was so much more.

Sam smiled at him and shook her head. "It's nothing," she brushed it off. Gesturing to the empty chair across from her, she invited him to join her. "Lucky is just out on an assignment that could be pretty dangerous. I was just thinking about him, that's all. I mean, I know we haven't been in the best place lately, but I think we could be again. We love each other."

He was shocked at her open honesty seeing as though they hadn't been close in quite some time. When Jason and Sam had broken up, he had to choose sides. Jason had been the one to take care of him, and his loyalty lay first with the honored Stone Cold. That didn't mean that he didn't still hold a special place for the Fair Samantha, the original Goddess. She had been the one to convince Jason to let him in. If it wasn't for her, he still might be on the outside looking in. Now, he was apart of the makeshift family the mobster had created for himself. He was lucky to count himself among the important ranks of the Valkyrie, Mr. Corinthos Sir and their offspring. "I don't really know the Detective all that well, but it's clear that he is a good man. Many of Port Charles' finest ladies have a special affection for him, including the Blonde One. I hope that things work out for you both."

"Thanks," she retorted, resting her cheek in her hand. "I'm not the only one that could use him right now. Nikolas is going through so much with this tumor, and he needs his family. With Lucky and Lulu both out of commission, his support network has been a little fractured lately."

Spinelli had heard the back story about the Prince from his best friend and knew that the outlook was pretty bleak without the surgery. He also knew that Nikolas was still suffering from the loss of Stone Cold's sister. "He's lucky that he has you then," he offered. "You don't give yourself enough credit sometimes. You are an amazing friend to the ones you choose to keep. In all the time that you were with Stone Cold, you remained loyal to him. Everyone knew how important he was to you. You've placed that same importance on your family."

"How did you get so wise?" Sam teased. He shrugged in response, surprised that anyone would see him as anything other than goofy. "I don't really have that many friends, but the people that are important to me are definitely worth fighting for. Lucky is the first guy I've ever had feel like_ I _was worth fighting for. Nikolas isn't just my family, he's our family. It changes everything."

"I know that feeling," Spinelli acknowledged. He had been going through his own emotional transformation of sorts lately. Not only had he learned that his Faithful Friend had held a secret torch for him, he was also beginning to see the softest side of his arch enemy. Maxie was something that he had never expected, much like Lucky and Sam.

"How is Maxie these days?" Sam asked knowingly. She had made fast friends with the petite blonde in the aftermath of the hostage situation and still counted her among one of the most important people in the world to her. They had bonded over a love of boutique fashion and bad boys. "Look, Spinelli, I know that Lulu might warn you about her, and I know that some of those warnings are probably founded. But I also know that she is complex and deep and worth taking a chance on. If you manage to get past the brave façade and see that girl for who she really is, you can't help but fall in love with the person that is underneath."

Blushing slightly, he could only nod at her implication. It was clear that Sam knew something was brewing between the two, even if they hadn't found a way to put into words yet. Even the slightest brush of her skin against his set off a range of emotions he had never felt before. As Sam looked back at him, he realized that she could understand. She had gone through this on her own with Lucky, and that was what she was trying to tell him. She was saying that taking the risk was worth it. "Lucky looks at you the same way that I must look at her."

With a small smile she reserved only for thoughts of Lucky, Sam gazed longingly out the window. "I hope so."

* * *

Nadine had to sit with him for more than an hour before Nikolas would let himself sleep. News of Lulu's disappearance had hit him especially hard, stirring up a wide range of fears that he had long tried to bury. Whether it was his grandmother coming after Emily or Elizabeth being taken hostage by Alcazar, the women in his life were always at risk. He had foolishly believed that Lulu would be able to break that curse, but he had discounted her most prevailing quality – she was a Spencer. On top of that, she had the same romantic heart that had consumed his mother. It was destined that Lulu would get herself into one catastrophe after another. Most times, he could handle that because he could be there. However, incapacitated in bed with this brain tumor, he felt helpless at his sister's cause. He could only hope that he could trust Lucky to bring her back.

"Did you sleep okay?" she asked softly from her place in the plush armchair next to his bed. He had requested that she be let off work to stay with him. He'd also asked they bring her a better chair if she was going to insist on watching over him like his own personal guardian angel. Most patients didn't have that kind of pull at a hospital, but he just happened to be one of GH's largest benefactors and a member of the board. "Nikolas, did you hear me?"

"Yeah, sorry," he apologized, turning slightly on his side to look at her. She was still holding his hand, absently stroking her thumb over his palm, just as she had been when he drifted to sleep. "You know that you don't have to stay with me all the time. You must be exhausted. Maybe you should go home and get some sleep."

"I already tried leaving you once, remember? That didn't really work out all that well," she taunted him playfully. Nikolas mustered a small smile for her in return, squeezing her hand in his. He recalled the first time she had held it, how their fingers had woven together so organically. "I did manage to use my free hand to call and check on your son. Spencer is doing well. Lesley said to tell you that he misses you."

His eyes drifted to the framed photograph that sat next to his bed. Spencer was growing more and more everyday, much like his tumor. Because of one, he ran the risk of missing out on the other. "I miss him too," he retorted honestly. "Any word on my brother or my sister?"

She shook her head. "Not yet, but I know that it is all going to work out. There are three men out there working to make sure they don't let down the people that love them," she proclaimed. "Lucky doesn't want to come back and have to tell you that he failed. This Dillon character is in love with your sister. A man in love would never leave his partner behind. And I don't really know Jason all that well, but Carly appears to be very important to him. I've witnessed her wrath. I highly doubt he wants to let her down."

Nikolas chuckled softly at her observation, quite aware how destructive Carly could be. Nadine was right on every account, and given his condition, he needed not to think about that for awhile. "I had a dream while I was asleep."

"Oh?" she smiled. "Do tell."

"You were in it," he revealed. "We were in this beautiful garden surrounded by the most amazing tea roses I've ever seen. They were so fragrant that I swear I could smell them in my sleep."

"I love roses, especially ivory ones," Nadine replied dreamily. Nikolas filed that little fact in the back of his mind. "Go on, what were we doing?"

"We were sitting on a bench in the middle of the lawn with Spencer between us," he remembered. "It was so simple, so still, but I remember feeling absolutely happy. It's a feeling I haven't felt in such a long time that I can't really imagine feeling it again. In fact, the last time was when Emily was still alive…"

Nadine carefully peeled her hand away from Nikolas. "I need to say something to you," she declared bravely. She didn't want to ruin this moment, but she also didn't want to set herself up for disappointment later. Her heart was on the line, and Nadine knew that she was the only one who could protect her. She didn't want to have to do that with Nikolas, and in order for that to be possible, she had to be honest now. "I'm not Emily. I'm never going to be her. I don't know if you want me to be some substitute, but I can't live in her shadow, Nikolas. That scares me about this. I don't want someone to look at me and always think that I am taking her place and that she could have done this better. People are going to compare me to her. Would she have been a better wife? A better mother? I don't want to compete with her memory."

"No, you're not Emily," he agreed. "I can't control how other people look at you, but I can be honest about how I feel. When I look at you, I don't see Emily. I don't think about how much I loved her. I think about how safe you make me feel. I see how you make me feel like it's okay to be myself again. You have managed to give me a security in my own skin that I had lost before. You give me someone to trust and someone to believe in. You give me this little piece of me that was missing. I didn't expect you, but I'm pretty sure we're supposed to be."

Reaching for his hand again, she was breathless at his honesty. "I feel things for you that I haven't let myself feel in so long. I didn't want to remember this part of me because I know how it ended last time," she confessed. "I can't help myself with you, but right now isn't the time to figure this out. I just needed to say that much. For now, I just want to have a little bit of fun. We need to take our minds off everything."

"We're at the hospital. Exactly how do you think we are going to have any kind of fun here?" he replied. He had been inside these walls for far too many hours. "There isn't anything to do but talk or watch television."

"Then you are highly underestimating my ability to entertain," she grinned. Getting up from her chair, she disappeared into the hallway for a second before rolling in a metal card loaded with assorted things. There were board games, coloring books, playing cards and other various toys that she usually used to play with the kids in pediatrics. However, there was one thing she saved especially for him. Looking over at him, she waved her hand over the towel like a spokesmodel before pulling it off. Underneath the towel, she had hidden her favorite toy as a child, the original Nintendo gaming system. She had played it for her hours with her sister. "Ta-da!"

"A video game?" Nikolas asked with confusion. "I've never even played with one."

Nadine couldn't believe that he had missed out on such a simple childhood pleasure that defined their generation. "You're kidding me, right? Nikolas, I'm going to teach you about something that so many men have fallen victim to."

"Your beautiful eyes?"

With a coy smile, she couldn't suppress the scarlet blush creeping up her neck. "And there's that," she giggled. "Come on, sit up. Let's forget about reality for a little bit."

"When I'm with you, I can pretty much forget anything else exists."

* * *

Dillon had heard Lulu scream many times in the years that he had known her, and he could interpret the inflection of each one. He knew what she sounded like when she was angry, shaking with a raging temper that no could stop. He knew how she sounded when she was falling apart, desperate to push away anyone with the power to hurt her. He knew how she sounded when was screaming with laughter, her entire body shaking as if she was feeling the happiness with everything she had. He knew what every look, what ever sound, what ever touch meant. He knew Lulu.

Sitting at the long dining table, he was waiting for the perfect moment to excuse himself and head off to find her. He had managed to remain undetected and inconspicuous so far, but he knew that his time was limited. As a slight man scooped a spoonful of potatoes on his plate, Dillon glanced around the room. A series of doors lined the walls, likely leading to the network of complex hallways that dominated the monastery. He had been led through so many twists and turns on his way to dinner that he stood little chance of finding his way back out again. However, he didn't care how lost he got while he was looking for her. He had been lost for months without her. He wouldn't truly be found again until she was with him.

"Dillon!" he heard her scream suddenly. Her voice was stunted and constrained, as if she was fighting something. Yet, her tone wasn't fearful or even genuinely worried. It was masked with a tinge of courage and a lot of hope. She was clearly faking it. "Dillon, Dillon, Dillon!"

The room started stir as the monks looked at each other confusedly. It was rare that any women graced their home, let alone a young girl. They had built their lives upon faith, peace and solitude, and in one swoop, she was shaking up all three. Dillon wanted to spring to his feet immediately but knew that it would only draw attention to him. He could play it safe and wait for an opportunity to break away. That would be the smart thing to do, but he'd never claimed to be brilliant. Intelligence was overrated anyhow. On a whim, he took a chance and rushed out of the room. Peeling away the heavy robe on his way up the stairs, he listened for her voice again. He could hear the constant pleading screams, beckoning him like a lighthouse.

Rounding a corner, he could tell that he was drawing nearer to her. Running up the stairs two at a time, he listened intently and following her bellowing yells. He could hear men behind him. It sounded like they were paramedics, and that scared him. What if something was wrong with her physically? Brushing it off, he reached the landing and looked down the corridor. He wasn't sure which way to take as her cries had become silent. Just as he was about to head left, an arm reached out and yanked him into a dark room. "Jason?!?" he yelled in a whisper. "You scared the hell out of me."

"I found which room she's in," he quietly replied. "There are two doctors with her and one of Trevor Lansing's guards in the hallway. We don't have long to get her out of here. I am going to create a diversion and deal with the guard. You just have to get in there and get her out. Don't hesitate and don't worry about me. Lucky is on his way up with the paramedics. Lulu has faked this entire thing. We're almost out of the woods." He reached down into his boot and drew a weapon. "Just in case."

Dillon didn't reply; he only followed obediently and silently as Jason navigated the dim hallway expertly. They came upon a pair of laboratories and a few examination rooms. Lulu's pleas had changed to whimpers, her voice hoarse from the incessant screaming. It pained Dillon to hear the distress in her tone. He needed to hold her now, to press the hair back from her face and reassure her in a way that only his gaze could. With a few more steps, they were just around the corner from the room where she was being held. He looked to Jason for a signal and received a curt nod in return. Jason plunged ahead first, drawing his gun on the unsuspecting guard. Dillon was steps behind, pushing past and into the infirmary.

He tried to drown out the sounds of Jason scuffling behind him as he sprinted through door after door toward Lulu. He saw her through the glass, laying flat on a table as she struggled. Reaching for the gun that Jason had given him, he nudged the door open with his hip. "Step away from her," he ordered evenly but forcefully.

The monks looked at him with surprise. "Are you with the guard?"

"No, I'm here for her. I'm with Lu," he answered. Lulu shot up from the table, thrilled to see him. Dillon forgot about everyone and everything else for a minute as her eyes locked on his. With one simple look, he came home again and order was restored in the world. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she promised him. "They've been helping me, Dil. The guard doesn't want me hurt, and these two kind men made sure that he couldn't do that. They're on our side. I've been faking this entire thing."

Tucking the gun back away, Dillon's face lit up with a smile as he closed the short distance between them. He needed to feel for himself that everything was okay. Lulu leapt from the table and stopped just in front of him. He reached up and cupped her cheek, tracing his hand carefully along her jaw. She responded automatically, turning her face toward his hand. Dillon instinctively wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm fine," she promised, reading his mind. "I knew you would come save me."

"How could you have known that I was even here?"

Lulu smiled at him mystically. There were some things that could be explained with science and ration, but there were those rare instances that simply escaped all logic. Her intuition about Dillon was one of those things. "Just a feeling."

Grabbing her hand, he looked at her pleadingly. "Promise me you'll never let go of that feeling." Lulu nodded as she hugged him again. "Your brother is on his way with reinforcements to make sure that you get out of here. Jason is outside dealing with the guard. I have to get you out of here." Not waiting for any more explanation, she took his hand and started for the door. They could hear Jason and the guard arguing outside. Dillon peered through the window to find the two men facing off, guns drawn on each other. "I'm going to go out first. You slip by."

"I am not leaving you here," she argued. "You didn't come all this way to rescue me only for me to leave you behind. We're going to leave this place together. We are going to go home together, wherever that is. Whatever happens from here on out, we're doing it together."

He needed to believe that, and even if he didn't, now wasn't the time to argue. "Lu, please, just do it." She started to argue but he swallowed her words with an urgent kiss. "Please, Lu, for me."

She rolled her eyes and looked away, not wanting to do as he asked but knowing that she needed to do this for him. He had risked everything to save her, and now, it was her turn to make sure that his efforts were worth it. She couldn't let herself risk anything or his entire mission would have been unwarranted. "Fine," she relented. Dillon brushed a thankful kiss over her cheek before heading out the door. Lulu counted to ten in her head silently, waiting for her allotted time before she could slip out the door.

"_One, two, three…_"

Her count was temporarily disturbed by Jason's loud threats.

"_Four, five, six, seven…_"

She heard the captor start to argue back, making unfounded demands that would never be met. Closing her eyes tightly, she wanted this to all be over. It was the same wish she had had since arriving in this monastery. For a place of God, it was certainly starting to resemble quite the opposite of anything holy.

"_Eight, nine…_"

Dillon's voice rang out, breaking all hopes she had of finishing the count. Her eyes were still shut tightly as she pushed the door open and headed out into the hall. The musty, cold hair hit her instantly, sending shivers down her spine. She started to run down the corridor to where the men were fighting when she heard the sound. It was a hollow thud and echoed into the rafters of the old structure. Rather than the unspoken final number she had never counted, she heard a lone gunshot. Her quick footsteps instantly turned into a full out run as she came upon the landing. Jason stood in the corner, bent over at the waist. Two other men were at his feet, a pool of blood seeping out from beneath their bodies. The guard was on the ground, Dillon lying on top of him, neither of them moving.

"_Ten."_


	9. Chapter 9

The entire world went dark the moment the gun shot reverberated throughout the dimly lit infirmary. Lulu stood breathless, waiting to see which man would roll away unharmed. Time seemed to slow down, each second taking longer than the one before it. She tentatively took a step forward, carefully assessing the situation moment by moment. If Dillon was the one that had been shot, she would give up immediately. It no longer seemed worth fighting for. If he was fine, they would get out of there now and never look back. Shaking her head, she started to bend down and reach for him. He had to be fine because she needed him to be fine. They didn't fight this hard and get this far for it to be over now.

"Dillon," she whispered, her voice barely audible over her heavy breathing. Her fingertips brushed over his cheek as he slowly rolled over. His sage eyes were wet with tears but he was clearly breathing. "Oh, thank God."

Crawling off the guard, Dillon stood up timidly and looked at the dead man below him. They had struggled and the gun had gone off accidentally. He hadn't shot him, but he still felt responsible for his death. In all of his wildest dreams, he never imagined that he could kill a man, but he knew there wasn't anything he wouldn't to make sure she was safe. He would have shot him in cold blood if it meant bringing Lulu home. Kicking him once to make sure he was truly gone, he turned away and let himself actually breathe for the first time. "I didn't mean to…"

"It's over," she murmured as she slipped her arms around him. The man's blood was pooling around their feet and had stained the white button-up shirt he had on beneath the monk's robe. She could hear the footsteps of the approaching policemen but didn't care enough to leave Dillon. She just needed to be near him, in his arms, to feel safe again. This nightmare was finally over. They were back together. The world was right again.

"Lulu!" she heard Lucky call as the men burst into the room. Still grasping Dillon's hand tightly, she turned to face her brother. He smiled gratefully and muttered something under his breath as he pulled her into a hug. Lifting her off the ground, he thanked God softly as he held her. "What happened? Are you okay? Who grabbed you?"

"Slow down, Detective," she taunted him, managing the best smile she could muster given the circumstances. "There will be time for all that later. For now, I just want to get out of here."

Lucky nodded dutifully before heading over to Mac to get clearance for him to take Lulu and Dillon home. Jason had appeared in the doorway, his blue eyes seemingly grateful that she was safe. "I'm glad you're okay," he nodded as he came over to approach them. Dillon shook his hand. "Dillon, I will take care of any legal representation that you may need. Don't answer any questions until you have a lawyer present, you understand?"

"I will," Dillon agreed. "Thanks for everything, Jason."

"You don't have to thank me," Jason shook his head. The quiet man was surprisingly humble. "Lulu is my family too. She matters a lot to Carly and there would be hell to pay if I didn't show up for her. Speaking of which, I should probably call and let her know that you're okay. She's been worried."

"Dillon, can you come over here for just a minute?" Lucky called out, waving his arm. He was standing off to the side, talking to Patrick. He excused himself and left Lulu alone with Jason.

Reaching up, Lulu hugged Jason. She knew that it would make him uncomfortable but she needed to do it. It was the only way she knew how to express how truly grateful she was for him. She was surprised when he returned the hug, if only slightly. "I know that you didn't just do this for Carly, and I appreciate that," she told him. "Can you do me one more favor?"

"Anything," Jason shrugged. He had meant what he said earlier. Lulu was family to him. She had kept his secrets for a very long time, and loyalty meant everything in this life. Between living with her for months and that, she had become like a little sister to him over the past couple years. Without Emily in his life, it felt nice to have someone to protect and look out for. "What do you need?"

"Tell Carly how you feel," she retorted, looking him straight in the eye. "You can pretend all you want, but I know what it's like to be in love with your best friend. I recognize the way you look at her because it's the same way I look at Dillon. She loves you, too, Jase. I know it, and you know it. I could have lost him today without him ever knowing that. Don't risk the same thing with Carly. You two are amazing together, the epic kind of thing that fairytales are made of. I once told Carly that if I could have half of what you two share with Dillon, I'd have everything. Give her everything."

He didn't say anything as he put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her again. There were no words when someone gives you your entire life on a silver platter. The truth – the one that he knew to be true but didn't always want to see – was right there in front of him, and for the first time in too many years, he couldn't think of a single reason to deny it. "I have to go," was all he said before leaving the monastery undetected. Lulu could bet that she would be hearing from Carly soon.

"You guys can go," Lucky told her a few minutes later when he returned with Dillon. She smiled thankfully at her brother and hugged him tightly one last time. "Jason left his limo downstairs for you to take back to town. I'll be in touch to interview you."

Lacing his fingers through Lulu's, Dillon led her down the stairs, past the staring monks and into the waiting car. Directing the driver back to the Quartermaine estate, they were both quiet on the short trip back to the mansion. Neither said too much, opting instead to enjoy the comfortable contentment of being together for the first time in months. She sat close to him, her knee against his and her head resting on his shoulder. He kept his fingers entwined in hers the entire way until the car finally stopped outside the gate. Thanking him, Dillon helped her out of the limo and let themselves onto the property.

"I can't believe we're finally home," Lulu sighed as she looked up at the vast white mansion. Dillon gazed at her, knowing that she was working something out in her head. "Let's go home."

He didn't have to ask what she meant or where they were going. He knew that they were headed back to the boathouse, their safe haven and the birthplace of all that was Dillon and Lulu. It held all their memories and secrets, the good and the bad. This was the place they belonged in this moment, a brief escape before the world inevitably reared its ugly head and they were forced to deal with reality once again. Once they were inside and the door was locked behind them, Dillon pulled her into his arms and held her to him. "I am so grateful that you are okay. I don't know what I would have done…"

"Don't even think it," she insisted firmly, pulling back to look into his eyes. Reaching up, she pushed a strand of blonde hair from his face and brushed her thumb over his bottom lip. "I knew that you were going to come for me. I knew that if you had any clue that something was wrong, you would fine me. You did. We got through this together just like we have gotten through everything else. It's over now."

Leaning forward again, she kissed him intently with all the emotions that were swirling through her body – the fear, the anxiety, the joy, the bliss, the grief, the anger, the surprise. Above all else, one stood out and that was love. They had been through hell and back. They had tried to feel everything about each other at one time or anther and only one of them ever rose above the rest. "God, I love you," he murmured against her lips. "This is it for us, you and me. I'm not leaving you again. I don't care how hard you try to fight or what you do to push me away, I am going to be with you for the rest of my life. Forever."

Lulu's face broke into a wide grin. "Promise?" she asked him, a cheeky spark glinting in her eyes. He nodded confidently. Stepping back, she traced her fingers down his stained shirt and moved her hands nimbly over the row of buttons. "Let's get you out of this." Dillon allowed her to unbutton the shirt and shrugged it off. It felt to the ground as her hands found its way back to his skin. Her hands brushed over his abs before working up his chest and eventually around his neck. "I'm really glad you're here. I love you, too."

* * *

Lucky hit the steering wheel of his police cruiser excitedly as he slipped behind the wheel. Cruz had delivered the car to the monastery as soon as he arrived on the scene, dismissing of any official duties on the case. Since Lulu was his sister and he had worked behind the scenes to secure her rescue, he couldn't really claim that he was impartial enough to give the investigation the unbiased effort that it required. He was fine with that because he had accomplished what he had set out to do. He had rescued his baby sister, and now, she was at home with the man that she loved. Her day had ended perfectly, and now it was time for him to do the same.

Pulling out onto the dusty road, he concocted a plan in his mind to finally make things right. He had spent the last two months fighting everything that he felt because of a betrayal committed in anger. However, he had almost lost her once and now that he could have lost his baby sister, none of that seemed to matter anymore. As he turned onto the access road that ran along the docks, he vowed to himself to not let the sun set without having her back in his arms. He had already confessed his love to her, now he just needed to show her how much he meant it.

After a quick pit stop, he found himself in the underground parking garage at her apartment building. He left his car in her visitor's slot and took the private elevator straight up to the penthouse. Holding a paper bag behind his back, he knocked tentatively on her door and prayed that she was at home. A second later, his prayers were answered when she appeared ahead of him. Lucky dropped the bag at the sight of her as literally leapt into his arms. Holding onto him tightly, she buried her head in the crook of his neck. "Thank God you are safe," she whispered as he carried her into the apartment. He sat her on the couch, leaving her alone only long enough to retrieve the bag and shut the front door. As soon as he sat down again, he was pulling her into his lap. "I was so scared."

"I know," he comforted her, sliding his fingers through her long silky tresses. "It's all over now. Lulu's safe and at home with Dillon. There are still a lot of formalities and details that we'll have to work out, but for now, the nightmare is over."

She pressed her forehead against his and looked into his crystal blue eyes. "I'm just glad you're here with me. I was afraid that you would say those things to me because you were worried and then take them back once everything was okay again," she confessed. "Seeing you now makes it all real again. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up tonight. I just love you so much, Lucky."

"You know that I love you too," he assured her. She nodded happily and returned his reassurance with a crooked smile. He let go of her hand for a moment to pull the bag onto the couch with him. Pulling out the bouquet of yellow daffodils, he pressed them into her hand. "Daffodils symbolize rebirth and indicate the beginning of spring," he explained. "Today is our rebirth, a new beginning after the desolate winter of our relationship. Those two people were former versions of us, but today, I want to make a commitment to starting this new life with you, Sam. I tried it without you, and it just doesn't work anymore."

"Did you know that daffodils also represent hope?" she asked him, lifting them to her nose to take in their sweet scent. "When Alexis was going through chemotherapy, I read everything I could on cancer. I read about this island in Canada where they deliver thousands of bouquets every spring as a symbol of hope for a new beginning. Whether it's a rebirth or hope, I don't really care as long as it means that we are going to end up together in the end."

Lucky kissed her again, swallowing all the last ounces of doubt that dwelled between them. "There is no other ending," he promised as he reached for the bag again. Pulling out a velvet box, he handed it to her. "This is my symbol, my proof of that."

Sam took it timidly and flipped the box open. She was almost scared to see what was inside. She wanted to know what it was, but there were still things they weren't ready for. She would marry him in an instant if that was his question, but she knew that they needed time. There was still a lot that they needed to work through before they were ready for that. She was visibly relieved when she opened it and found an engraved keychain. "What's this for?"

He tilted his head and smiled. "We talked about moving together before this happened. I think it's about time that we make that happen," he declared. "I am still going to be a father to Cameron and Jake. We all need to figure out how to be a family together. We're going to have to work it out with Elizabeth, but I know that we can do that as long as we still together."

"So, you want me to move into your house with you?" she asked skeptically. She liked the idea of living with Lucky but not in the cottage he had shared with Elizabeth.

"No," he shook his head. "I told you that we needed a new beginning. This house is the ultimate symbol of our new beginning. I am going to give Lulu the house. Something tells me that they might need it soon. If you can get out of your lease, this can happen. It's near the waterfront, really close to your mom's house on the lake. I thought we could be closer to Kristina and Molly."

Tracing her fingers over the script carved into the silver heart, she could only nod silently. His word to her, _Renaissance_, was French for rebirth. He meant what he was saying and his sheer faith in their future made her believe. "How soon can we move in?"

* * *

"I cannot believe you are beating me!" Nadine squealed as she pounded her controller excitedly. It was almost more fun for Nikolas to watch her than the game. She had a competitive streak a mile wide and was more into the game than he could have ever imagined. She moved when the screen moved, stomping her feet and muttering whenever things didn't go her way. She was completely enthralled by the virtual world on screen, and it had completely captivated Nikolas' heart. If he hadn't felt something her before this moment, this would have cemented it for him. "Are you sure you've never played before?"

"Never, I swear," he promised as he sat the controlled down beside him. Nadine smiled as she flipped off the console and the television. "That was a lot of fun. I can't believe you actually got me to do that. You should have seen me when I first started hanging out Lucky, Elizabeth and Emily. I had never been to a movie theatre or a pizzeria. Lucky couldn't believe all the things I didn't know about. It was like I was an alien or something."

"Well, you kind of are," she pointed out. She had grown up with the All-American family living in the suburbs with the complete childhood experience. She had been to backyard birthday parties with pin the tail on the donkey and Kool-Aid. She had made out with boys in basements that reeked of pot and hung out with her girlfriend at the mall on many Saturday afternoons. In college, she had joined the pep squad and cheered on the football team every weekend before going to all-night ragers at the frat house that night. Nikolas had missed all of that. "But I like the person that you are all the same. You know about things I've never experienced just like I have been through stuff you can't really conceptualize. We kind of compliment each other like that."

Nikolas nodded thoughtfully as he looked to her wide, baby blue eyes. He had never known anyone like Nadine. She had an innocent awareness that made him want to take care of her for the rest of her life and at the same time a resilient strength that reminded him that she didn't needed him to do that for her. She was a walking contradiction and the ultimate unexpected wonder. "Come here."

She started to argue but as soon as her eyes met his pleading gaze, her counterpoints were no longer valid. Kicking the chair out of the way, she waited patiently for him to move over in the bed before crawling up beside him. This went against all profession protocol, but she didn't care. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she needed to be with someone. She needed to feel his skin against hers, to bask in their mutual warmth. He cradled her against him, careful to not pull on any of the cords or tubes running over his body. "This feels nice," she admitted as he kissed the top of her head. Nadine turned slightly and placed her hand over his chest. "Your heart's racing."

"It's been a long time since I've been nervous around a girl," he confessed. She blushed deeply as they both fought to suppress a chuckle. "I like how you make me feel. I like seeing you with my son in your arms. I like how completely unexpected you were. I like how you don't back down from me. I like so much about whom you are and who I am when I am with you."

"I want to try this," she told him finally. She had been thinking it, holding it back, not wanting to believe it for so long, but the time had finally come for her to admit the truth to Nikolas as well as herself. She still couldn't compete with Nikolas and Emily, the golden couple, but maybe she could help him become something completely different altogether. She wasn't a fairytale princess. She was a real life girl. "We have to take it slow. It's going to take time, but I want to try. I want to get to know you outside these walls, and I want to spend time with Spencer. He's just as important in all of this as you and me."

He cocked his head to look down at her, leaving them mere inches apart. "You have no idea how much you have come to mean to me so quickly," he told her. "I can't get over how unexpected you were. I didn't see you coming."

"Trust me, you weren't my plan either," she giggled. His eyes were dark and foggy with something familiar. She knew it was desire, not of the sexual flavor but of emotional contentment. "I thought I came here to see my sister and be a nurse. I went to a ball at some mansion, the first really formal event of my life, and I ran into some guy who was really nice to me."

"That night definitely changed my life in more ways than one," he decided aloud. Nadine stayed silent, knowing that he was processing a lot. She allowed him to slide his hand down to hers and weave their fingers together. "I never thought that life could get better. Maybe it really hasn't. It's just different."

"And that's okay, Nik," she assured him. "I don't want to take her place. I've told you that I can't compete. I just want us to have the chance to be ourselves, who we are together. It's something completely different."

Grazing her cheek, he pulled her mouth to his and fully captured her lips. "I think I can manage that," he sighed happily. Nadine sighed involuntarily as she snuggled against him. "You've been watching over me all week. Why don't you get some sleep?"

"Okay," she relented sleepily, finally relaxing for the first time in far too long. Sleep overtook her quickly and Nikolas enjoyed the feeling of having someone in his arms. Just before she fell asleep, she murmured something inaudible to him. He chuckled to himself and let his own eyes fall shut. It was their first night sleeping together, and neither of them could imagine anything more perfect.


	10. Chapter 10

Early the next morning, Lucky sat alone at the kitchen table, slowly drinking a cup of hot coffee. It had been a long time since anything felt perfect to him, but right now, that moment, he knew that his life had finally found the balance he had been looking for. Smiling to himself over the edge of his mug, he found his eyes drawn to the doorway where Sam stood. Clad in a plum silk robe with her hair falling wildly over her tanned shoulders, the mere sight of her took his breath away.

"Good morning," she smiled as she came into the kitchen. She pulled a mug from the cupboard and filled it with the rich espresso Lucky had made when he got up over an hour ago. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Never better," he admitted as she joined him at the table. Lucky took the mug from her and sat it on the wooden surface before reaching out for her. Pulling her into his lap, he reveled in the feeling of her against him. He still couldn't believe that he was lucky enough to have found her. "I talked to the realtor a little while ago. We can stop by and check out the place this afternoon."

Sam sighed happily. "Perfect," she retorted. "What are you doing this morning? I was thinking about going over to the park for a run? Maybe we could run by and see the boys when we're done. I know it wouldn't make Elizabeth happy, but I've missed seeing them all this time that we've been apart."

Lucky knew that his girlfriend was correct and that he was likely going to have a long conversation with his ex-wife and the mother of his children. Elizabeth wasn't going to like it, but he was determined to make this work. "Actually, I am going to run by the hospital to see my brother," he told her. "I haven't talked to him since Lulu came home, and someone should probably run by there to see him."

"I can go with you if you like," she offered.

He shook his head. "I am going to drop by the Quartermaines to pick up Lu and take her with me. I think it's time that the three of us spend a little time together. My family has been so disconnected lately, and now that I am finally getting a grip on the situation, I want to make sure that we spend that time together."

Pressing a kiss on his cheek, Sam smiled at him warmly. "I love that you are such a family man," she praised him. "Why don't you spend the morning with your siblings and I'll go by and visit Alexis and the girls? I'm sure that Kristina and Molly will be excited to hear that we are going to be living near them very soon. I haven't really spent much time with them lately."

"That's all going to change now," he promised her. "More than ever, I realize what is important, and that is my family. For a long time, the only person I could ever count on was Lulu, and she was just a little girl. Now that I'm an adult, I have an older brother and a baby sister. I have two sons and a great network of extended family. And I have you to share all of that with, McCall."

"Well, I didn't really have a family either growing up," she acknowledged. "There was my brother, but I was always on the run and didn't get to spend time with him. I had my father, but Cody only wanted me around when he was running a scam. It wasn't until I came here that I realized what I had been missing out on. If I hadn't run into Jax, I would have never found my mother, my sisters or Nikolas. I wouldn't have found you."

Lucky wrapped his arms around her slender waist and stared intently into her eyes. "I missed you," he whispered as he stroked her hair absently. "All those weeks without you, I drove myself crazy thinking about you. Now, I just want to enjoy each moment that I get to spend with you. I am in love with you, Samantha McCall. I could be like this with you forever."

* * *

Dillon propped himself up on his elbow to watch over a sleeping Lulu. She was curled into the side of his body, her every curve fitting against him perfectly. He had almost forgotten how whole he felt when she was in his arms. Anytime he was without her felt like a piece of him was missing. In the early hours of twilight, he took solace in the completeness that he felt again. Lulu was more than just some girl he had known once upon a time. She was his family, his best friend and his soulmate wrapped up all in one. Being there with her now was all he had dreamt of for the past two years.

"You know that I hate it when you stare at me," she murmured without opening her eyes. Dillon chuckled automatically as a mischievous par if hands came up to bring him down to her. Nipping playfully at his bottom lip, Lulu captured his mouth in a deep kiss. She didn't even care that she had morning breath. She just wanted to feel him again. "On second thought, you can look at me all you want."

"Good because I have had to go entirely too long without being able to look at the way I am looking at you right now," he sighed as he settled contently next to her. Lulu pulled the cotton sheep further up to them before rolling over on top of him. She rested against his taut body, searching his eyes for the slightest hint of how he was feeling. "This is the best morning I have had in a really long time."

"In case I haven't said it enough, thank you for coming back for me, and I don't mean just to rescue me. I'm so happy that we're finally in this place where we can be honest about how we feel," she confessed. Dillon reached up to finger the tips of her blonde tendrils. "It took us a long time to get here, but I don't regret any of it, Dil. I don't think I could ever appreciate what I have if I hadn't gone through that. I've been selfish for a long time, immature and self-righteous. That person is gone."

Dillon had to admit that she hadn't been the girl that he had fallen in love with two summers ago, but they had each needed to take an individual journey before they could start their voyage together. They were changed people, but the heart of who they were still remained. "You want to know the moment I knew that I was in love with you?"

She felt like a girl as she giggled. It was the kind of conversation movies were made of but that all girls secretly wanted to have. "Tell me."

"Well, I told you for the first time in the living room of your parents' old house when you were on those crutches, but I had actually figured it out a few weeks before," he explained. "You were still staying at the Quartermaines, going to class because my mom was making you. Anyhow, I came home after a long night at the library and went to your room to tell you good night. Only instead, you were bent over your desk, asleep on top of your textbook and notes."

It was a strange moment to fall in love with someone, but that was the one where Dillon had known that what he felt for her far surpassed anything he had ever had with anyone. He had loved Georgie the best you could love someone at 17, but he had grown up when he had fallen in love with Lulu. She was everything that he wasn't and everything that he was all in the same breath. The unexpected wonder she brought was endless but all-encompassing. It was what he wanted for the rest of his life.

"I knew that I loved you from the first time you kissed me here," she admitted, "but I didn't really understand how deep that ran until the day of my parents' wedding. When you danced with me, it was the perfect ending to the best day of my life. I'm so glad that you were apart of that."

Outside a horn honked and Lulu shot up from the bed, apologizing for her sudden departure. In the intimate romanticism of their first morning together, she had neglected to tell him that she was heading over to General Hospital to see Nikolas. Dillon watched her thrown on her clothes from the comfort of the bed, laughing when she cursed at not being able to find her shoe. When Lucky hit the horn for a second time, she brushed a kiss over his cheek and promised to be back as soon as she could. Two seconds later, he was alone in the boathouse, but he didn't really feel like he was without someone. Burying his face in the pillow and inhaling her soft scent, Dillon knew that he would always have her and would never have to be alone again.

* * *

The scent of stale hospital coffee and overcooked eggs filled the room as Nadine slowly woke from the deep slumber that had lasted far longer than she had expected. Opening her clear blue eyes, she looked around blurrily before remembering where she was. Shifting uncomfortably in the cramped bed, she suddenly remembered not only where she was but who she was with. Glancing at the sleeping man beside her, Nadine felt like she should be more anxious or afraid. Instead, she couldn't remember a time when she'd been so calm or at ease.

"I can't believe you spent the entire night with me," Nikolas announced as he opened his dark eyes. His gaze found hers immediately as a small but curious smile played on his pert lips. "I was sure that I would wake up to find you gone. I figured you would make some excuse about not wanting someone to find us together or something."

Nadine shook her head. "Nope, no excuses," she replied. "I told you that I wanted us to have a chance, and I meant it. Maybe it's not the best thing for my career to sleep in the hospital where I work with the primary benefactor, but my heart just doesn't seem to care. I'm not sure who brought the food in here, but someone has already seen us. Even if they hadn't, I don't want to hide us."

"Good because I'm pretty proud that I could get such a beautiful, compassionate nurse to fall for someone like me," he boasted. Underneath the surface, he really was surprised that Nadine had fallen for him. He couldn't believe he had gotten so lucky twice. "Look, I know that you have to work today, but I was hoping that you could bring Spencer by tonight for another visit. That is, if you don't have any other plans."

"That is the best offer I've gotten in a very long time," she accepted before kissing his cheek. Looking over at the tray, she wrinkled her nose. "I can't believe that they try to feed this poor excuse for food to sick people. It doesn't even look appealing let alone smell or taste good. What we need are a couple of apple turnovers from Kelly's."

"I could have someone bring some to us," he offered. "I'm sure that someone on my staff wouldn't mind running over there when they bring by my mail in a little while."

Nadine laughed softly to herself and shook her head. "Actually, I need to run by my apartment and change before my shift starts. I can run by the diner and pick us up some dessert on my way back to work. Just because we're together doesn't mean that I am going to start relying on you for everything. I've been taking care of myself for a long time."

"Oh, so we're together?" he deadpanned.

Nadine raised an eyebrow defiantly. "If you think you can handle it."

"Well, then I suggest a compromise," he proposed. "I like to take care of the people who are important to me, and part of that may include doing things for you from time to time. I love that you are independent, but I want you know that it's okay to depend on me."

"Alright, if you want me to depend on you, then you're going to have to learn to let me be there," she countered. "I am a caretaker by nature, and I can pretty much guarantee that I am going to want to take care of you. We're alike in that way. We take care of the people that matter. What do you say to that?"

"I say it's a pretty good deal," he answered. "In fact, I am going to depend on you to bring me back breakfast. You were right about this hospital food, it's atrocious. I'm going to have to do something about that. Maybe my chef can plan a menu and train the staff…"

She couldn't help but giggle at him as she leaned over and kissed the tip of his nose. Nikolas reacted immediately, tickling her sides to elicit another wave of giggles. He liked the sound of her laugh and often found himself missing it when she wasn't with him. It was such a silly thing, but it had always been the way he'd known that he really cared about a girl. Eventually, the tickling turned into wandering hands as she moved against him. Her fingers found their way to his hair as he slid his hands down her back. Finally, her mouth met his in a deep, long kiss.

"Um, excuse us," Lucky said from the doorway, catching them both off guard. Nadine buried her face in Nikolas' shoulder sheepishly while he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "We didn't mean to interrupt."

"No, you're not interrupting anything," Nadine assured them as she gathered herself. "I was actually just getting ready to leave and get us some breakfast. I have to be back here pretty soon to care for actual patients."

Lulu giggled as she pushed her brother into the room. "Well, it's clear that your bedside manner is very healing," she commented as she flopped into a chair in the corner. Lucky laughed under his breath as Nadine shoved her stuff into a striped tote bag. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Yes, you did," Nikolas called her out teasingly. Nadine was surprised to see yet another side to him, a carefree older brother just poking fun at his younger siblings. She liked this part of him as much as she liked all the other faces of Nikolas. Leaning down, she kissed him briefly. "I'll see you later?"

"I'll be back with your turnover very soon. After all, I have to take care of my favorite patient," she promised before waving goodbye to Lulu and Lucky.

"Well, well, well, Big Brother, it looks like you have found something to fill your time while I was missing," Lulu said as she came over to hug her brother. Nikolas held her for a long time, thankful to see she was safe and alive. "Just so you know, I'm fine. Lucky and Dillon rescued me just like they promised you that they would."

Nikolas looked at her to make sure that everything really was fine. Looking at his little sister, he knew that she was happier than she had been in a very long time. "I'm just sorry that I couldn't be there, Lu."

"Nik, I'm just glad that you're in the hospital finally getting the help that you need," she retorted. They had lost so much already, and she couldn't bare the thought of losing one of her brothers. They were her stability. "I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you and Lucky both there to save me."

"I'm going to have the surgery tomorrow," he told them. "I know that I shouldn't have fought you on this for so long, but I thought that I was going to lose everything if I stopped seeing Em. I didn't realize all the things I would be holding on to my choosing to live. You two and Spencer are a big reason why I want to live."

"And Nadine," Lucky added with a knowing smile. "I'm glad that you have someone. Emily would be, too."

"Thank you for that," Nikolas told him as Lucky stood behind Lulu. "I think she would be happy for me. I think that this is what she would want. Maybe Emily brought Nadine to me. I don't know. I just know that this feels right."

"I know the feeling," Lucky and Lulu said in unison.

Nikolas looked from his brother to his sister. "Wait, are you back with Sam?"

"The anger just doesn't seem to matter as much anymore."

"And you and Dillon?"

"We got a new beginning last night. I plan to take full advantage of that."

"Well, what are the odds of that?" Lucky snorted. "All three of us found happiness on the same night. It's about time that we were lucky in love. I wasn't sure that it was ever going to happen, and then it happened all at once."

Nikolas shook his head. "No one could have predicted this."

"No," Lulu agreed, "but Mom would have loved this." At once, all their thoughts shifted to Laura Spencer, their guardian angel. She would have loved to be able to see her children so happy. She would love to see Nikolas falling in love again and coming into his own as a father. She would love who Lucky was when he was with Sam and the look in his eyes when he watched Cameron and Jake. She would love Lulu finding forever with her best friend despite all the things that had happened before. She would have loved everything about that moment.

"Mom is loving this," Lucky told them both. "She's here with us now, I just know it."

He wasn't sure if he believed that exactly, but Nikolas was willing to take a leap of faith for them. "I'm sure she is."

Nikolas sat up and held his arms out to Lulu. She moved in to hug him tightly, thankful for everything that had made this possible. Lucky wrapped his arms around her from behind, making the circle complete. There were many important relationships in life – between lovers, between parents and children, between friends. Each of them was equally important and equally strong in their own way. However, on that day, Nikolas, Lucky and Lulu were grateful for the unconditional, unbreakable bonds between brothers and sisters. Without that love, life wouldn't be the same.

_Fin._


End file.
